Sauber boss Fred Vasseur believes that the arrival of F2 champion Charles Leclerc has forced his teammate Marcus Ericsson to elevate his game in 2018. The Swede drove arguably his best race in Formula One at the opening round of the championship in Australia.
Ericsson finished 12th that race with a very solid drive after a great qualifying session kept the difficult-to-drive Sauber off the back row of the grid.
Team principal Vasseur says that the arrival of his rookie teammate and Ferrari prospect Leclerc has given Ericsson a new found level of competition.
“I think the fact to have Charles in front of him with a lot of expectations around Charles it’s an extra motivation for him.
“Last year he did a much better job than before. He was more than committed over the winter period.
"He lost a lot of weight, it’s not just for the weight but it’s for the commitment. If you have a look the first events he has much more performance from the beginning of the weekend.
“Probably one of the weaknesses he had last year was that he was a bit far away on the first stints and he always needed time to come back. He was catch up in the last stint of the qualifying but he started from too far away.
"This season from the beginning he’s much more onto the pace, much more performance from the beginning and it’s important for him and for the team.”
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