Marcus Ericsson has criticised the driving standards in IndyCar after a chaotic race in Detroit.
The 100-lap event had 47 laps under caution on a day where staying out of trouble was critical to a good result.
Ericsson finished second from 9th on the grid, bouncing back from a tumultuous month of May. He was pushing Scott Dixon all the way to the end as he passed Marcus Armstrong on the penultimate lap.
There was lots of contact during the race, mainly at turns 3 and 6, leading to spins, crashes and stalls as things got very messy. The 2023 Indy 500 was not happy about it.
“I haven’t seen the race; I was just driving it. I saw in my mirrors every time on the restart, four, five-wide. I was just praying not to get hit pretty much every restart.
“I think people are driving reckless on the restarts. Obviously opportunities on restarts. I don’t know if we need to look at how we steward these kind of races.
“I think today more than 50% on yellow. I’m sure it was dramatic and fun to watch. At some point also we need to have a bit of a better standard. We’re one of the best racing series in the world. We shouldn’t be driving on top of each other every single restart.”
The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix saw some amateurish incidents on a circuit that is difficult to pass on as well as eight caution periods.
The Andretti driver admitted he has made some errors on the track during his career but is adamant that IndyCar’s level of driving can be developed.
“We’re some of the best drivers in the world here racing. We shouldn’t be having incidents like today.
“I’ve done my fair share, as well. I do mistakes as well. I’m not going to put the finger on everyone else. I don’t stop myself, as well. I think as a series, we can definitely improve.”
Ericsson closed the gap to Dixon in the last few laps after overtaking Armstrong for second place at turn 3 with a nice move under braking.
The Swede failed to get close enough to pass the race leader but was satisfied with second place in Motor City.
“I think with 15 laps to go when I felt the car was really good. I had no fuel concerns. I could push hard. Then I could see Scott and Marcus up the road.
“The tough thing is with Scott Dixon, he’s the best ever in doing what he did today, like saving the fuel, then having enough pace. If there is someone that’s hard to beat, it’s him. It was tough.
“Marcus [Armstrong] here put on a really good fight. One more lap, who knows what would have happened. I think he did a really good job. We’ll have to take a P2 today. We tried. We gave it everything.”
