Marcus Ericsson went into qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix knowing he had a ten-place grid penalty following a change of engine on his Sauber, but suffered more issues during the session that left him down in twentieth on the grid.
Despite this, Ericsson will retain his position on the grid as those who finished behind him in qualifying – Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso – also have grid penalties.
Ericsson admitted to being disappointed with the outcome of qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, revealing that he suffered with a lack of power that ultimately affected him down the straights, and is looking to his mechanics to investigate the issue overnight so he can have a stronger race performance.
“It was a disappointing qualifying for me,” revealed Ericsson. “We already had issues with the power unit in the morning. We managed to fix it for the end of FP3, so I was at least able to go out for a couple of laps.
“Then in qualifying I had a lack of power again, and, therefore, I lost lap time, especially on the straights. We need to investigate and sort these issues out for tomorrow.”
