Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver Marcus Ericsson says he is relishing taking on the challenge of oval racing when he switches to IndyCar in 2019.
Ericsson has raced in Formula 1 since 2014 and previously rose through the junior single-seater ladder, competing in Formula BMW, Japanese F3 and GP2 – F2’s predecessor – before joining motorsport’s top echelon.
When asked on his oval experience by IndyCar.com, Ericsson said: "Zero, I think you need to go into it very open-minded and sort of take it step by step.
"I’m lucky to have such a good team around me with SPM. They will help me get up to speed and with James [Hinchcliffe] as a team-mate, I think that will help as well."
Ericsson believes that the experience of learning to adapt his driving style will prove beneficial in his new surroundings.
"That’s always been one of the big things of my driving style, that I’m very smooth," added the Swede.
"I remember when I was in go-karts when I was a kid, people would say they would watch me and say when I was alone on track that it looked like I was going super-slow because I was so smooth out there on track.
"Then when you asked me the time, I was the fastest.
"So I think already from when I started, I’ve always been a smooth driver.
"But later in my career, I sort of learned to switch on the aggressive side, as well, when needed. Hopefully, that will help me on the oval side."
"I’ve always been really interested in oval racing because since I started my career, it seems like high-speed cornering and high-speed turns always have been my favourite and where I’ve always been super-strong compared to my team-mates.
"I always wondered how I would go on an oval because I think my type of driving would suit an oval.
"Obviously, it’s very different to a normal, high-speed turn, but I feel like it’s something I will like and, when I get used to it, will be quite good at it. I hope so, at least!"
Discussion about this post