Marcus Ericsson had his first opportunity to test the new Sauber C35 on day two of the second pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday, but suffered a handful of issues that restricted his running to just 55 laps.
Technical issues affected the Swedish driver during the morning session that saw a delayed start to his day with a Ferrari power unit issue, and then he was forced to stop on track in the afternoon when his rear right wheel became detached, causing the only red flag period of the day.
“It was a difficult day, which was very much compromised, especially in the morning, by issues on the technical side,” said Ericsson.
“And late in the afternoon, in turn 4, I felt something strange at the right rear, which made me lose control of the car. Therefore we didn’t complete as many laps as we wanted to.
“We were still able to do some useful running, with longer stints in the afternoon, which was good for me to get a feel for the new car for the first time. However, sometimes this sort of thing happens with a new car when testing. Let’s look forward to the next time I test on day four.”
Ericsson will have one last day of testing on Friday, with Felipe Nasr having his final day in the car tomorrow before the start of the season in Australia later this month.
