Ericsson: Leclerc Ferrari signing good for me

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Marcus Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson feels Charles Leclerc’s promotion to Ferrari says “quite a bit” about his own form given that he’s had the edge over his team-mate in recent weeks.

Although Leclerc came good at the Singapore Grand Prix, finishing the race in ninth place, prior to that it was Ericsson who was showing the better form.

He outscored his rookie team-mate in the previous five races, although overall it is Leclerc who is winning their points battle.

Ericsson said: “I feel that I stepped it up the last five or six weekends.

“I scored more points than Charles [in the five races before Singapore] and Charles has signed a contract with Ferrari for a few years so I think that says quite a bit.

“If I can keep doing that, or even better, that’s what I need to do.

“If that’s enough for a contract or not that’s not up to me, but I need to keep pushing and trying to impress.”

Ericsson is reportedly up against Antonio Giovinazzi for the second Sauber seat with the Swede revealing the team has not yet set out a deadline for their decision.

“They haven’t really given me any specifics or a timeframe for it, but I know I need to perform now,” he added.

“The competition for the seats is a lot higher than it’s been the last few years and I think the signing of Kimi really shows that.

“Now there’s only one seat left for next year so I need to really impress and work hard to show that I should really be in the team.

“The pressure is high but I like that. I usually do my best racing when I have the biggest pressure on my shoulders so I don’t really mind it.”

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