Official: Penalized, Marcus Ericsson will start from the pits in Monaco
On his Caterham, young Swede Marcus Ericsson will start from the pit lane at the Monaco Grand Prix following his collision in Q1.
Kamui Kobayashi’s teammate will start from the pits tomorrow, as decided by the race stewards who found him guilty of reckless driving when he collided with Felipe Massa’s Williams.
The Swedish driver tried to overtake the Brazilian at Mirabeau, but he collided with Valtteri Bottas’ teammate, and both drivers ended up in the barrier. In 22nd place, Ericsson also loses 2 points on his license for the first time this year.
However, the anglo-Malaysian team’s driver spoke about the accident by reflecting on his qualifying session:
« I had a traction problem in 1st gear, even though the track temperatures had increased. I didn’t have enough grip to really push the full potential of my car because I was also slowed down in the last sector by other cars. That’s why I couldn’t complete a clean lap. On my last fast lap, I was behind Massa in turn 5, then he moved off his line, and I was behind him, which meant I had to brake. Unfortunately, I ended up taking him into the railing… it’s totally my fault. »
The victim of the day, Felipe Massa, ranked 16th because he couldn’t take part in the second part of the qualifications: « I did everything I could in the first part, but in the end, Ericsson hit me and that ruined my qualification, » said the Brazilian.
On the other hand, the incident between Daniil Kvyat and Pastor Maldonado results in a simple reprimand for the Russian. He was found guilty of impeding the Lotus driver in turn 19.
