Barcelona Testing – Marcus Ericsson says that he is not yet feeling the strain of the extra downforce from the 2017 cars.
With more downforce and grip, more durable tyres and extra fuel to burn, races in 2017 are set to be a physical ordeal for the drivers, but Ericsson admits he is yet to feel it after the first day of testing.
“Today the longest run I did was twelve timed laps, which was fine but you can definitely feel that it is going to be a bit tougher for the neck,” he said.
“It’s going to be tougher for the races. Hopefully next week we will try to do a race distance which will be a good test to do, not only for us as a team but for me personally to see how I feel afterwards.”
Ericsson added that he is enjoying the new look of Formula One and driving the new generation of cars.
“This year’s cars are definitely more fun to drive. As you would expect, faster in mainly the high speed corners, you can feel quite a big difference.
“Also I thought the braking was quite improved, they’re shorter so you can attack the corners a lot more. That was something I enjoyed quite a bit.”