Both Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr are upbeat as they head to Suzuka this weekend for the Japanese Grand Prix, with both Sauber F1 Team drivers looking to work further on making the upgrades on their cars work.
Ericsson had a strong weekend in Japan twelve months ago while driving for the now-defunct Caterham F1 Team, and admits to liking the track he knows well from his Japanese Formula 3 season, and hopes to be in a position to challenge for points as the team work on their upgrades that were first brought to last weekend’s race in Singapore.
“I am really looking forward to Japan,” said Ericsson. “It is a place I know well as I lived there for a year during my time in the Japanese Formula 3 in 2009.
“It will be nice to go back and meet all the passionate fans. I really like the track a lot and it is a lot of fun to drive there.
“I am looking forward to the Suzuka track’s challenge. With the aero update, I am confident we will be able to be in a strong position to fight for points there.”
Team-mate Nasr secured his first point since the Monaco Grand Prix in May last weekend, and is looking forward to his first experience of driving a Formula 1 car around Suzuka.
“It will be my first time driving a Formula One car on the circuit in Suzuka,” said Nasr. “I have always heard positive things about the track, and I cannot wait to drive there.
“The circuit is at the same time a real challenge for us drivers, as there are many medium and high speed corners, up and downhill sections, as well as tricky braking zones.
“In Suzuka we will continue to work on our update package. We will validate the data from the race weekend in Singapore in order to make a further step ahead.”
