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F1 Mexican GP: Ericsson recovers to 11th but ‘not close enough’ for Sauber

Marcus Ericsson narrowly missed out on scoring Sauber's first point of the 2016 F1 world championship after recovering from a first-lap collision with Manor's Pascal Wehrlein to take 11th place.

With Sauber needing a point to leapfrog Manor in the F1 world constructors' championship, and with it pick up several million pounds more in prize money for finishing one place higher in the standings, Ericsson produced a flawless drive to see his medium tyres last 70 laps having being forced to pit at the end of the opening lap for a new front nose after colliding with Wehrlein at turn three.

With just one retirement ahead being the difference between a momentous result for the Swiss team, Ericsson ultimately fell just short in 11th, intriguingly Sauber's first P11 of the year, but conceded he wasn't close enough to challenge for points due to his first lap clash.

"It was a strong race today. The collision at the start was unfortunate, and, to be honest, I was worried that it was going to be the end of my race after I was hit," Ericsson said. "I managed to get back to the pits to fit a new front wing. We also saw on the data that the car's floor had been damaged.

"We kept on going, and I managed to get back into the rhythm, so the pace was still good. Today we were close to the points, but just not close enough. We as a team take a lot of positives from this weekend. It shows again that we are taking steps in the right direction. We will fight back in Brazil."

Sauber now has just two race remaining to break into the top ten to look to overtake Manor in the F1 world constructors' championship and with it the vital extra prize money.

Zdroj: crash.net