How F1's other IndyCar exile finally unlocked his potential

Marcus Ericsson has long been something of an enigma. Many who worked with him, across Formula BMW, F3, GP2 and F1, were adamant that he was genuinely quick. Yet his inconsistency, especially in qualifying, was maddening – combined with an unfair share of random mishaps that often seemed to get him down.

It's been a long-held view of this writer that if someone could help him get over whatever stumbling block it was that held him back, he’d be a real weapon at any level. And, according to those close to him, there’s been a “light-switch change” that’s resulted in two IndyCar Series wins and a top-six points finish in 2021.

Of course, Ericsson is a veteran of Formula 1 and battled hard with some pretty uncompetitive machinery. A return of 18 points from 97 starts in Caterham, Sauber and Alfa Romeo equipment actually wasn’t too shabby. How about starting sixth on the grid for the 2018 Brazilian GP, where he outqualified team-mate Charles Leclerc by two tenths of a second? He then banged wheels with Romain Grosjean at the first corner, the damage later forcing him to retire, while Leclerc and Grosjean went on to finish seventh and eighth – typical!

After switching to IndyCar in 2019 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Ericsson joined an expanded Chip Ganassi Racing for the following COVID-affected season. Fast forward to 2021 and something’s really clicked; he’s found much more consistency and is back to winning races again. And, ironically, both his victories this season came after odd incidents that affected other people, and not him for a change…

“It’s definitely been a breakthrough for me here,” he says. “Winning my first race in eight years was huge for me, one of my biggest targets going into this season. When I got that win out of the way, it’s just been a big boost for me and the #8 team – to show we can win. Ever since, I think I scored the most points, being top 10 every single race [until his crash in the Long Beach finale], so it’s been a really strong year and I’ve really enjoyed it.

“For me, it’s been a lot of hard work, the last year and a half since I came to Ganassi. It took a bit of time last year to get everything up and running, with the #8 car group being a team within a team, but I still think we were consistent and were solid in 2020, just without the highs we’ve enjoyed this season.

Breaking his IndyCar duck at Detroit was a significant turning point for Ericsson's career and has boosted his confidence

Photo by: Barry Cantrell / Motorsport Images

“Going into this year, I felt we had something to build on, and could be competitive, and I think for me the big thing was getting the confidence boost of the first win. That really helped me to take the next step. And since then, we’ve been mixing it up at the front and having good pace on all the different types of tracks. I’ve been a contender everywhere and it’s been a lot of fun being up there.”

The breakthrough win came at Detroit, after race leader Will Power was unable to rejoin the race for its final restart due to an overheating ECU on his Penske-run Chevrolet. But Ericsson was in the perfect position after a brilliant drive, having qualified down in 15th on the grid that day. His second victory, at Nashville, happened after a bizarre clash with Sebastien Bourdais that sent him airborne – but ended with him outpacing weekend dominator Colton Herta, who wrecked his car trying to overhaul him.

"Marcus works incredibly hard at this. His level of intensity is very impressive, something I’ve enjoyed in our time together, he really strives to be the best" Brad Goldberg, engineer

Someone who’s played a major role in helping Ericsson become a winner again is Ganassi’s driver advisor Dario Franchitti. He says the Detroit result wasn’t the work of a moment, but a concerted effort to improve Ericsson’s strengths on both the mental and car set-up sides.

“The work happened before [Detroit],” says Franchitti. “Brad [Goldberg, his race engineer] has been really receptive to pushing him. Marcus has got the talent, it was about getting him into the mental space to unlock it. [Ganassi’s vehicle dynamics chief] Jim Hamilton, as well as Brad and myself, have really pushed Marcus on that, to help him unlock that talent he’s got.

“When it clicked, he just went with it. From that point he said ‘I’ve got it, boys’ and since then he’s been operating at a different level. He’s been much more relaxed.”

Goldberg, who rejoined Ganassi’s IndyCar program after switching to its successful IMSA Ford GT project, says Ericsson’s tireless efforts in self-improvement have contributed much in his elevated performances.

“Marcus works incredibly hard at this, whether it’s timing reports, data analysis, working with Dario, working with the other engineers at the team, he tries to fine-tune his craft in IndyCar racing,” says Goldberg. “His level of intensity is very impressive, something I’ve enjoyed in our time together, he really strives to be the best.

Engineer Goldberg has been impressed by Ericsson's dedication to crack IndyCar

Photo by: Geoffrey M. Miller / Motorsport Images

“It’s a second year in the books between us and we’ve really started to understand each other: I’ve come to understand his language and his mannerisms in the car, what he’s requesting from the car. He always wants to be better, and together we want to be the best.

“The potential has always been there and it’s been about putting a couple of results together and building momentum and confidence. Let’s say we had a foundation to build upon to move us up the grid, and we’ve certainly done that this year.”

Ericsson admits his transition from F1 to IndyCar took a while for him to get his head around, but the change in his confidence levels since joining Ganassi has been striking.

“It took a bit longer than I expected,” says Ericsson. “IndyCar is a very different championship compared to Formula 1. The cars are extremely different to drive with the downforce levels being very low compared to modern F1, with no power steering, no tyre warmers – it’s a different car to drive.

“It took me a while to get my head around that, and it was tough for me but I kept working hard. Moving to a team like Ganassi really helped me, and having a team-mate like Scott [Dixon] – that’s been huge for me.

“All that hard work has paid off this year, so I can compete up front and show what I can do. My five years in F1 were great but I never really got a chance to show what I could do because of the teams and cars I was in. It’s been great, for myself, to show that I can win at this level.”

And winning has put an extra spring in his step, although his engineer was always a cheerleader of his talent…

“I believed in him from day one,” says Goldberg. “It’s always been there. From the first time we had lunch together he told me how much he wanted to win, how he wanted to go about it. And when we did it at Detroit, it was amazing.

Ericsson admits it took him time to get his head around the differences between F1 and IndyCar

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

“He’s definitely more confident, his demeanour is more direct. He comes in and he tells me what the car is doing and ‘I need this, I need this and that’ and he’s no longer feeling it out. It definitely been a big step forward.

“I don’t know how he came out of F1, but certainly from when he came into the team [in 2019] he’s developed so much. When you see him walk around this paddock, he’s just so much more confident in himself, he’s got a strong presence here now. That first win was like a 50-pound weight coming off his shoulders. From then it’s been like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s do this!’”

"We’ve found a way to let him get on with it but ensure he doesn’t overthink it. And it’s been a light-switch change, it’s been really cool" Dario Franchitti

In terms of driver psychology, Franchitti adds: “When you win one race, you’re like, ‘Well I know I can do it’ and then he produced a superb drive at Mid-Ohio. And Nashville… [he starts chuckling] from airborne on lap one to winning it – that was great!

“But he’s absolutely stepped up this year. In many ways it’s been frustrating to see someone with his talent not fulfilling what he’s capable of. This year, he absolutely has, and it’s been mega to see. Just watch the momentum he’s built in the second half of this season.”

So just what were his previous problems? What has Franchitti managed to put his finger on to guide his charge into Victory Lane in 2021?

“A lot of times, it was performance with him,” explains the Scot. “He’d be mega through a corner, this corner, that corner and then it was like: ‘Well what’s happening here?’ He’d push too hard, make a mistake, he just couldn’t find the sweet spot often enough. Maybe like a golfer who’s got a mental block on his swing.

“Jim, Brad and myself, we’ve helped him figure that out, and steered him – we’ve found a way to let him get on with it but ensure he doesn’t overthink it. And it’s been a light-switch change, it’s been really cool.”

Ganassi advisor Franchitti believes Ericsson's breakthrough win at Detroit has helped him unleash his best form

Photo by: Chris Owens

Goldberg is highly complimentary of Franchitti’s work with Ericsson, even if it’s meant more workload for him.

“He’s been very key to some of the things – for example, telling Marcus it’s OK to say the car is bad,” says Goldberg. “We need him to say that. Dario has done an amazing job of getting that personality out of him to use the language of IndyCar racing to get better.

“IndyCar is very specific, and I think he’s done an amazing job with helping Marcus to be very forthcoming with information, and that really helps us drive down the road.

“The dynamic in the engineer group between the drivers is really good. We’re always bouncing ideas off each other, pushing to get better, we all bring something different to the table. Can you approach that corner a bit differently? Can we approach that setup a bit differently? It’s about putting it all together, and having that strong dynamic helps.”

The big area for improvement on Ericsson’s radar for 2022 is qualifying. His best grid position of third was achieved at Mid-Ohio, but he started outside the top 10 on nine occasions.

“We’ve improved in qualifying this year but I still feel like it’s the biggest area I need to improve to really challenge for the title next year,” he admits. “I think I need to be four or five spots higher on average in qualifying. I think I’ve shown my race pace is as good as anyone in this field – I just need to start a bit higher up in races to be able to challenge for that title.

“I’ve shown how good of a racer I am, and that’s rewarding, but it’s hard to race from mid-pack to get to the front, so I need to start there more often to make life easier for myself.”

When told of what Ericsson has said about his qualifying form, Goldberg adds: “He’s definitely his own worst critic, absolutely. We always review what we do, and that’s paid off in our results. To continually repeat what we’ve done in the latter half of the year, leading points from halfway on, we’re planning on rolling that forward into next year, and then we’re there. I truly believe we can fight for it week-in, week-out.

Ericsson has singled out qualifying as the main element of his game he wants to improve in 2022

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

“At Portland, I was joking with him about how funny it is when times change. We qualified 10th, and last year that would be, ‘Yay, starting 10th!’ This year it was, ‘Oh no, 10th!’ It shows how our mindset has changed, and you can’t forget that it’s so hard to win an IndyCar race, it’s so very, very competitive.”

There’s no better substitute for motivation than winning and having got a taste for it again – for the first time since his junior formula days – now Ericsson is hungry for more in 2022.

“It feels very rewarding for sure, especially after the junior categories when you win races every year,” he says. “And you target race wins when you get to your dream of being an F1 driver, and then you have to reset your mind.

“I still enjoyed it, and it was fun and I wouldn’t change it, but it’s been more fun coming over here and knowing I have a chance at winning every weekend. That was a feeling that I missed in F1.”

After his breakthrough season, Ericsson and Chip Ganassi are targeting more in 2022

Photo by: Barry Cantrell / Motorsport Images