Marcus Ericsson was left downbeat after feeling his Qualifying performance around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the Swede set to start the fifth race of the season from seventeenth on the grid on Sunday.
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team racer was unable to match the pace of team-mate Charles Leclerc during that opening segment of Qualifying, ending more than eight-tenths of a second behind the Monegasque racer, with his best time of 1:19.493s enough only to beat the struggling Williams Martini Racing duo.
Ericsson cited balance issues for the deficit and the early elimination, but he feels that he will be able to make some gains on race day as the C37-Ferrari has shown to be relatively competitive this weekend, as was shown in Qualifying by his team-mate.
“It was a disappointing qualifying for me,” said Ericsson. “I was struggling with the balance and the car didn’t feel so good.
“It is a shame to finish qualifying in Q1, as we have been quite competitive this weekend. At the same time, that is a positive, and we should be able to recover some positions during tomorrow’ race.
“Let’s see what is possible tomorrow.”
