Malaysia a Formula 1 'breakthrough' despite spin, says Ericsson

The Sauber driver was having the strongest race weekend of his F1 career at Sepang, ending each of the three practice sessions in the top 10.

The Swede, who made his debut with Caterham last year, continued his good form by getting into Q3 with the 10th fastest time, and started ninth following Romain Grosjean's penalty.

However, following a good move on Max Verstappen to move up to eighth, he braked too late into Turn 1 on lap four when trying to catch Nico Hulkenberg and spun, beaching his car in the gravel.

"I think I was just a fraction too late on the brakes and when I started turning the car, instead of sticking, the rear just wanted to jump out," Ericsson told AUTOSPORT.

"It's one of those things, if you brake a few seconds earlier or a few seconds later that's the difference between being a hero and going off. It's extremely frustrating but you learn from it."

Despite the mistake in the race, Ericsson was buoyed by his form during the rest of the weekend.

"When I look back at the weekend, I'm going to be pretty pleased because I have shown really strong pace," he said post-race.

"I've been top 10 in every session and in general felt really strong. I've felt competitive in the car as well, so it's a bit of a breakthrough for me.

"But you go away with a frustrating feeling because I'm sure that we could have been fighting for seventh and eighth with the Toro Rossos. We had the pace to do that.

"But after a couple of days, I'll be stronger as I've shown a bit of potential."