Coming from a road racing background, oval racing is an entirely different beast to tame. Instead of working on several different kinds of corners on the same lap, there’s only one kind of corner to master, but the ability to master an oval comes with a lot of effort and experience.
“The difference from being like around P10 on an oval to winning races on ovals is quite big, because that’s where the experience and the small details count,” Ericsson said. “And these guys have a lot of experience to know how to sort of feel where the car is going balance wise. And, they really can predict where the balance is going to go and know how to time the process and to defend and all those things.”
In addition to ovals, Ericsson identified qualifying as a major point to improve upon. In 2022, Ericsson started 10th or lower in 10 out of 16 races, and in nine of those races his finishing position was better than his starting position.
The difference between starting fifth and 15th can be as little as one of two tenths of a second. Being able to get that last little bit of time out of the car can make a driver more of a championship contender. In preseason testing, Ericsson said that he and the team found some things that made the car handle more to his liking when they were at Sebring and so they’ll bring that knowledge to St Petersburg.
“We’re talking about small details,” Ericsson said. “You know, we’re all in a very high level, finishing sixth in the championship. So for us to take another step, to really fight for the championship and win the championship is about that last tenth or so that we need to find.”Ericsson will have his first chance to shine in 2022 on Sunday in the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg at 5pm GMT