Marcus Ericsson admitted to being pleased with his Japanese Grand Prix as the Sauber F1 Team driver showed a good turn of speed and made good strategy calls to finish fifteenth on Sunday.
The Swedish driver finished on the tail of Renault’s Kevin Magnussen but ahead of McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso at the Suzuka International Racing Course, and moved up three positions from his starting position having used a one-stop strategy work to his advantage.
Ericsson was happy to be able to stay with Renault’s Jolyon Palmer during the first stint of the race, and although the Briton moved away later in the race, he felt it was a positive race.
“For me it was a decent race,” admitted Ericsson. “My start was not too bad, and I gained one position moving up to P17. My first stint on the medium tyres was also ok, as I was hanging on to Jolyon (Palmer) ahead of me.
“Overall, I believe we chose the right strategy. Finishing in P15 is a better result compared to my starting position (P18). We still need to find more pace to fight for points.”