Marcus Ericsson has revealed the rivalry he faced against his Sauber F1 Team team-mate Felipe Nasr during their GP2 Series careers has made it almost impossible to good friends in Formula 1, but insists their working relationship is enough to ensure the team move forward.
The two drivers went head to head in GP2 in 2012 and 2013, but found themselves team-mates at Sauber in 2015, with the two combining to score thirty-six points, but Ericsson admitted he did not know how the two would work together last season.
“Going into this season it was into the unknown because me and Felipe had a bit of a history in GP2,” said Ericsson to Autosport. “We had some tough battles and we were maybe not best friends there but to be honest, we’ve been working well together.
“We’re not best buddies, but I don’t think there is any reason to be that as team-mates. But what we do well is that we can discuss things and we usually do that for every session. That is important especially in a small team where we don’t have the resources to throw things on the car.”
The two drivers collided during the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, but both drivers sat down and cleared the air as soon as the race concluded, with Ericsson insisting they had moved on from the incident.
“In Austin, we had a bit of a disagreement there but after the race we had a chat about it and then we moved on and it was 100 per cent fine,” said Ericsson. “That is a strength, too. I’m happy he is staying and we can continue working together next year.”
