Marcus Ericsson felt his British Grand Prix was going ‘really well’ until he crashed out of the race at Abbey at the start of lap thirty-two when he failed to close his Drag Reduction System device heading into the turn.
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team racer was running fourteenth behind Sergio Pérez when he spun through the gravel trap and into the barrier, causing the race’s first safety car period as a result.
“It is disappointing that I did not finish the race today,” said Ericsson. “It was going really well, we were following the strategy plan and had a good first stint.
“Then, the second stint also started well, and we were waiting to become stronger through the race. Unfortunately, I had to retire following my crash in turn 1. The DRS was open, and I lost the car.”
Ericsson felt his failure to close the DRS heading into Abbey caused him to lose the rear of his C37-Ferrari, leaving him as a passenger as the car hit the barriers.
“I was behind Checo [Perez], and when you’re racing and you have this DRS zone you want to be as late as possible to switch it off and early as possible to switch it on,” Ericsson is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.
“I wasn’t sure after the incident if it was a failure or not, but we’ve looked at the data and it seems like… I have the button behind my steering wheel and it’s quite bumpy on entry and you go on the kerb, and I think I slipped and didn’t hit it.
“Basically I turned in with the DRS open and then you’re a passenger as the car just turns, that was the reason why it happened.”
Ericsson feels a points finish could have been possible as he was battling with Pérez and Pierre Gasly, the battle that ended up being the fight for tenth position, particularly as he had fresher tyres than both of them that he feels could have helped in later in the stint.
“I think points were on the cards,” said Ericsson. “At that point I was just behind Checo and Pierre was right ahead. I felt at that point really strong and had fresher tyres than both of them.”
