Sore Marcus Ericsson feels 'lucky' to escape Silverstone F1 crash
Sauber Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson believes himself lucky to have walked away with no serious injuries following his heavy shunt ahead of the British Grand Prix
Ericsson was taken to a hospital in Oxford following the incident during final practice at Silverstone, undergoing a variety of scans and checks, and was cleared to race after a medical on Sunday morning.
The Swede appreciates he could have suffered more than bruising and soreness after his car speared nose first into a tyre barrier at high speed when he spun on the exit of Stowe.
"I'm a bit bruised, aching, and I've some sore parts on my body," Ericsson told Autosport.
"The most important thing is yesterday we did all the scans, which is why we went hospital to get everything checked.
"There was nothing broken, nothing wrong with me, which was the main thing, but of course today I felt a bit sore, aching, and I'm a bit bruised, but there was no problem to drive. I felt good in the car.
"To be honest it's quite impressive to see the safety in these cars and on the tracks because with a shunt like that, an impact like that, it's quite incredible to be able to walk away.
"Where the accident took place was quite a bad place because out of Stowe the exit is pointing towards the barrier on the inside, so when I touched the astroturf a bit, it was a bit damp, it snapped the car.
"I had one tenth of a second to think. I realised it was going to hurt, and it was a massive impact. You don't get much time to think, but I was lucky I was not more injured.
"OK, I feel sore, but nothing was broken, which is a good sign for Formula 1 that we have such good safety standards."
Despite Sauber's poor financial situation and lack of spares, the team managed to repair the car overnight and get Ericsson on track, only for him to retire early on with an electrical issue.
"There was nothing left of that car yesterday," added Ericsson.
"They had to build a completely new car in 24 hours, with everything that it takes to do that, and it was a very impressive job.
"Unfortunately I couldn't finish the race, but they still did an amazing job to get me out."
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