Sweden's Ericsson, '22 Indy 500 winner, jumps to Andretti team
Sports
Ericsson, who turns 33 on September 2, has won four IndyCar races in four seasons
Washington (AFP) – Sweden's Marcus Ericsson, a former Formula One racer who won last year's Indianapolis 500, will jump to the Andretti Autosport racing team starting next year, he announced on Wednesday.
Ericsson, who turns 33 on September 2, has won four IndyCar races in four seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing after joining the series in 2019 with Schmidt Peterson following five winless F1 campaigns.
"Andretti is one of the most legendary names in motorsports, so it is definitely a dream come true for me to join this team," Ericsson said. "It's a very exciting new chapter in my career."
Ericsson will become the new teammate of American racers Colton Herta, a seven-time IndyCar winner in six seasons, and Kyle Kirkwood, who won his first series races this year at Long Beach and Nashville.
Ericsson won this year's IndyCar season opener at St. Petersburg and finished second to American Josef Newgarden at the Indy 500 in his bid to become the first back-to-back winner of the oval classic since Brazil's Helio Castroneves in 2002.
"We have paid close attention to Marcus' success in IndyCar and have been impressed with how quickly he proved that he belonged with the frontrunners in what is arguably the most competitive IndyCar field ever," said team chairman Michael Andretti.
"It's no secret that we want to win races and championships and to do that we need drivers like Marcus, who have that natural talent and determined drive." Ganassi Racing issued a statement saying it wished Ericsson "all the best in his future endeavors" and will "announce driver updates in due course."
