SWEDE DREAMS

How Marcus Ericsson joined racing's immortals at the Brickyard

- Damien Smith

He was a journeyman in Formula 1, respectable but never likely to progress beyond Sauber – especially as he carried the toxic label of ‘pay driver’. That’s why after 97 grands prix, initially with Caterham and then over four seasons with the middling Swiss team that’s now known as Alfa Romeo, he was right to look west to the land of opportunity.

Four seasons in and amid his third with Chip Ganassi Racing’s crack Indycar team, Marcus Ericsson has hit the pinnacle by becoming an Indianapolis 500 winner. His life will never be the same.

On the same day and on the other side of the Atlantic, Sergio Pérez outperformed Max Verstappen and made the most of Red Bull’s sharp pitstop strategy to win the Monaco Grand Prix, the race that most Formula 1 drivers covet more than any other. But while joining the Monaco club is special, F1 racers desire a world championship above it. In the US, the opposite is true: give drivers a choice of an Indycar Series title or a win at the Indy 500 and it's just not a question, for any of them.

Drinking the traditional quart of Indiana milk, slipping on the ridiculously oversized winner's ring and getting your face moulded on to the giant Borg-Warner Trophy... It's like winning the Masters in golf, the Grand National in horse racing or an Olympic gold medal. People look at you differently after you've conquered the 500.

NO ONE IS IMMUNE TO PRESSURE

In a way, Ericsson's was a typical under-the-radar Indy win. Overshadowed even within his own team by Scott Dixon and Álex Palou, the 31-year-old Swede quietly kept himself in the game, lapping among the frontrunners without looking like an obvious threat. For the first 150 laps at Indy, the key isn't to try to win the race but rather to avoid losing it.