Two wins and a strong run in the 2021 IndyCar championship proved to avid race fans that Ganassi driver Marcus Ericsson was worth more than the results of his journeyman-like Formula One career.
But winning the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 has forever redefined his racing legacy. It’s the culmination of what Ericsson described as a difficult process of reinventing himself after transitioning out of F1.
“It’s been tough,” said Ericsson. “I did five years in Formula 1, almost a hundred grands prix, running for small teams, towards the back most of it. You don’t get a lot of credit running in the back in Formula 1. People think you are not very good.”
“I came over here (in 2019), and people probably didn’t think much of that.” Ericsson arrived in IndyCar with the former Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team (now McLaren SP), before transferring to Ganassi the following year.
“I had to work my way here as well, learning American racing. I moved here, put my whole life into trying to become an IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 champion.”
“It’s not been easy. But I’ve been working extremely hard. It feels good to show that hard work pays off.”
Big-time sponsors and financial backers from Sweden helped get him to F1 in 2014 and secure his place in the sport for five years, despite meagre results initially at Caterham and later Sauber. Another prominent Swedish sponsor arrived when he joined Ganassi, which did nothing to dissuade his critics who had long ago labelled him a ‘pay driver’.
But his third and by far his biggest IndyCar win of his career rewrites that narrative. “Winning the Indy 500, it’s not bad for a pay driver!” he quipped.
“It’s going to take a while to take that in,” said Ericsson in victory lane. It’s just incredible. I worked so hard for a moment like this, and to win ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ the biggest race in the world, with all of my family here, my girlfriend, my backers… it couldn’t be…