Marcus Ericsson is coming off one of the most disappointing seasons of his racing career, but he also sees 2024 as a launching pad for a strong season in 2025.
Why? Because his history in the sport suggests he will be better in Year 2 with Andretti Global.
“I’ve always been that kind of guy that needs sort of a year to know things and get to know people,” Ericsson said in advance of next week’s group test at Sebring International Raceway. “I get the most out of myself when I feel comfortable with the people I'm working with and sort of know things that's going on.
“Some drivers can just jump in anything and just be fast from the get-go, and that's for sure a strength. But for me, throughout my career … I need a year to get used to things, and then I can deliver.”
Ericsson sees similarities between last year’s first season with Andretti Global and his first year in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. That year, in 2019, he posted only a single top-five finish and had only three of the top-10 variety. His second season in the series saw three times as many of each of those, although it should be noted he had switched to Chip Ganassi Racing.
Ericsson’s U.S. career skyrocketed in his second season with Chip Ganassi’s organization. In 2021, he won the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Belle Isle and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Nashville’s street circuit, added another top-five finish and wound up sixth in the standings at year’s end. The next year he won the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and nearly won the race last year, finishing a close second to Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
Ericsson said he immediately felt at home at Andretti Global and transitioned “almost better than expected.” The season even began well enough with a sixth-place start in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding and a fifth-place finish in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. But after that … the challenges began to mount, and the poor results piled up.
The Honda-powered No. 28 entry finished 18th, 16th and 33rd in the next three races, and the latter was painful. Ericsson crashed coming out of Turn 4 in a late-week practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and his program never regained its footing. Ericsson had to endure the Last Chance qualifying session just to earn a starting position, and then he couldn’t avoid the spinning car of rookie Tom Blomqvist in the first corner of the race. The contact vaulted Ericsson’s car nose-first into the outside wall, ending his race effectively before it even started.
While Ericsson responded to Indy’s disappointment with five consecutive top-10 finishes, including a second-place finish in Detroit’s downtown street race, the rest of the season included three races where he finished 23rd or lower and three of the final six ending with contact. He was 15th in the final standings, his lowest result since his rookie season in 2019.
Meanwhile, his teammates were productive. Colton Herta won two races, three poles and finished second in the standings while Kyle Kirkwood finished seventh in points with five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes.
“Last year was definitely a disappointing year results-wise for me, but I felt like I was laying a good foundation for this year, so I'm really excited to be back at Andretti for a second year with the same core group on my car,” Ericsson said. “Just to start off every weekend knowing what we did last year is going to be a big thing for us, and I feel like the potential is really high.”
Andretti Global’s management has been altered with Michael Andretti’s decision to take a step back, but almost everything involved with the organization’s on-track effort remains the same. It’s worth noting the team took a big step forward on the ovals last year, with Herta earning his first oval victory in the series at Nashville and Kirkwood earning the pole for that race. Herta also won the pole for the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart, the first race of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader.
Andretti Global drivers combined to lead 235 laps on oval tracks last season, something from which each of them draws encouragement.
Ericsson said he has invested considerable time in the offseason working on his mental approach, adding 10 pounds of muscle, and using a new home simulator to hone his driving skills. He hopes those things, along with a second year in the system, lead to better results.
“I think with last year's results, it gave me even more motivation to work even harder,” he said. “A lot of people would say to me, ‘Sorry for last year; bad luck.’ I don't really believe in (bad luck). I think you make your own luck. I just didn’t do a good enough job last year, so I want to make sure I’m better this year.”
Ericsson stressed that Andretti Global has “all the tools” to win races and the series championship. He wants to again be a contender for those accomplishments.
“As a team, there's a lot of good things happening in the background,” he said. “I know how much effort has been put into the offseason to make us better on every aspect, so I can't wait to get to St. Pete and get going.”
The season opens Sunday, March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, with live coverage at noon ET on FOX, FOX Deportes and the INDYCAR Radio Network.