Marcus Ericsson awaits Ganassi's decision on contract: 'My phone has been quite busy'
Nathan BrownMarcus Ericsson may be in a Chip Ganassi Racing car for years to come – perhaps in his trademark red-and-white Huski Chocolate firesuit (or Huski Ice Spritz, as he’s transitioned to for this year’s 500).
But that backing from Huski won’t be the reason he’s in the seat.
The 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner, who’s won four times since the start of the 2021 IndyCar season, led the championship race for two months last year and led after three of the five races this year, is done being a pay driver – the term used for drivers who land rides because of the sponsorship they bring to fund the ride.
When he signs his next IndyCar contract (his current deal expires at the end of this season), Ericsson said Wednesday he wants to land that ride on his on-track merits alone. If Huski, a deal brokered by his longtime backer, Swedish billionaire Finn Rausing, wants to come along for the ride at Ganassi or elsewhere, then great.
But at the moment, he’s waiting for Chip Ganassi to hand him a deal that satisfies that wish. Meanwhile, multiple teams are waiting anxiously in the wings.
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“I’ve noticed my phone has been quite busy the past few months. Teams are pretty interested in my future, and that’s a new thing for me,” Ericsson told select media Wednesday. “It does seem like people are taking notice and rating me as a driver, and that feels great. I’m allowed to listen to what (other teams) are saying, but talk? Not so much.
“I have great support from Sweden, as well as my backers and sponsors, and I’ve had that all of my career, and I’m very thankful for that. But with where I am now in my career and what I’ve achieved, that shouldn’t be the reason why I’m hired. I should be hired for the skills I have as a driver”
Ericsson made these feelings somewhat known immediately following his 500 win last year, when in the press conference that evening he quipped that wining the Greatest Spectacle in Racing was “not bad for a pay driver.” The next day, he told reporters it had been next to impossible for a reporter from his small hometown in Sweden on-hand for the 2022 500 to find any Marcus Ericsson merchandise – just the latest in a long list of slights the ex-F1 driver felt, purposefully or not, had been lobbed his way.
“Not a single T-shirt, cap, anything,” Ericsson said that Monday of what the reporter had found to take home as a souvenir. “Pretty much every other driver in the field, but not a single Ericsson thing, and he was a bit shocked. ‘You’re starting 5th in the race, you took 6th last year, and not a single thing?’”
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Since, Ericsson has battled head-on any insinuation that IndyCar is lesser-than because a five-year F1 veteran of 97 races is now finding success at a major level for the first time in his career. He’d also be the first one to tell you he often feels he’s an afterthought in the championship conversation, despite having finished 6th in 2021 and 2022 and logging top-10s in 26 of his last 32 starts.
The driver of the No. 8 Honda does believe Ganassi wants him back – and the team owner has said as much publicly, telling a group of reporters in March at St. Pete, in regards to Ericsson, “I want him here beyond this year.”
Ericsson, though, wants to see Ganassi prove it – and that the hall of fame team owner wants him even without the millions that have traditionally come with him over the years.
“It could be both, that would be great, but that’s a conversation they have to have. I’m just saying that shouldn’t be a requirement. If they can work things out, that’s great for sure,” Ericsson said. “It would’ve been nice to have things worked out already, but that’s obviously not the case. I have to focus on delivering on the track, and I feel like I had a strong enough start to the year that that should hopefully help my case.
“I’m not stressed about it. I feel like there’s a lot of teams interested, and if Chip isn’t, I’m not stressed. Of course, as always, you want to get things sorted for your future earlier the better, so you know what you’re doing, but if I keep delivering on-track, something is going to work out, I’m sure.”