Marcus Ericsson had his first day on the job with Sauber today in Abu Dhabi.
Ericsson turned in a solid day of testing in the C33, logging a total of 95 laps and setting a fast lap of 1 minute, 46.253 seconds. That time was good for eighth among the 10 drivers that tested at Yas Marina Circuit.
After running the first 16 races of the 2014 season with Caterham, Ericsson is now preparing for a full-time drive in 2015 with the Hinwil squad – which recently completed its first-ever season without World Championship points.
The Swede was especially pleased to get as much track time as he did. His new team reports some “minor issues” were had today but that Ericsson was able to finish with some short runs.
“It was a great day,” he said. “I did a lot of laps which was the main thing, to get used to the car and get to start to work with the team. I am really happy with that.
“It was a good first day. We focused mainly on aero work for 2015 and also on tire comparisons. I think everyone is satisfied, and I am also happy about my first laps in the C33.”
Said test engineer Paul Russell: “It was a good day, although in the afternoon we had some technical issues, and in general there were many red flags but it did not affect our program massively. It was good to start working with Marcus, and it was important for him to drive the C33, start the process of working together and also to learn the car.
“We got quite a lot of aero work done today, and collected a lot of valuable data. Besides that, we also had a first look into the tires for the 2015 season. Overall, it was quite a mixed program. It was an interesting day.”
Ericsson is one of four drivers that will run both days of the ongoing Abu Dhabi test.
