Ericsson storms to career-best qualifying in Malaysia - MotorSportsTalk

Marcus Ericsson’s strong start to his sophomore season in Formula 1 continued in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday as the Swede claimed his highest starting position to date.

The ex-Caterham driver joined Sauber at the beginning of the 2015 season, and scored his first points in F1 at the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago after finishing eighth.

Ericsson continued this form in Malaysia on Saturday by avoiding elimination in Q1 for the first time in his career before then going on to make it through to the final top-ten shoot-out.

Although the Sauber driver finished at the bottom of the timesheets in a rain-affected Q3 to qualify tenth, he will make up a position by virtue of Romain Grosjean’s grid penalty.

“It has been a great weekend so far,” Ericsson said. “I was able to finish every session in a top ten position, and we can be satisfied to have repeated that in qualifying.

“In dry as well as wet conditions I felt comfortable in the car. At the end of Q3 we were quite close to our competitors, which is positive.

“It was another good day for us, so we can be happy with today’s result. Tomorrow we have a promising chance to again score points.”

In the second Sauber, Felipe Nasr was less successful as the Brazilian struggled in Q1 to leave him in the dropzone and out of qualifying in 16th place.

“After the third free practice session we saw that we were still struggling with the rear tires,” Nasr said. “In qualifying we seemed to have found something. However, on my second run on the medium tires the rear wheels locked in turn four, and I lost time there.

“It has not been an easy weekend for me. We need to review what happened and learn for tomorrow. I’m already looking forward to the race. We know our car is competitive in race conditions, so I am confident about making up some positions.”

The Malaysian Grand Prix is live on NBCSN and Live Extra from 2:30a ET tomorrow.

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The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix but with start times in a new location for 2023.

After a 30-year run on Belle Isle, the Detroit GP has moved a few miles south to the streets of downtown on a new nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit that runs along the Detroit River.

It’s the first time single-seater open-cockpit cars have raced on the streets of Detroit since a CART event on a 2.5-mile downtown layout from 1989-91. Formula One also raced in Detroit from 1982-88.

The reimagined Detroit Grand Prix also will play host to nightly concerts and bring in venders from across the region. Roger Penske predicts the new downtown locale will be bigger for Detroit than when the city played host to the 2006 Super Bowl.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):

CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:05 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 1:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Alex Palou captured the first street course pole of his IndyCar career; click here for where everyone will begin Sunday’s race

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (170 miles) on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street course in downtown Detroit.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (Indy NXT: 150 seconds total, 15 seconds per). The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 0% chance of rain.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Detroit

INDY NXT RACES: Saturday, 12:05 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 12:50 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 19 drivers racing at Detroit