SPEEDWAY, Ind. — In 2024, Marcus Ericsson has his (statistically) worst season since his rookie year back in 2019.
Two seasons ago, in his final year with Chip Ganassi Racing, he was sixth in the championship standings. Last season, his first with Andretti Global, he was 15th.
“Last year was definitely a disappointing year results-wise for me,” Ericsson said. “But I felt like I was laying a good foundation for this year, so I’m really excited to be back at Andretti for a second year with the same core group on my car.”
Many have attributed Ericsson’s lackluster 2024 campaign to “bad luck.” That explanation is certainly justified in the eyes of the beholder. Having won the 2022 Indianapolis 500 and finished as the runner-up in 2023, ovals were not Ericsson’s friend in 2024.
He crashed out of the Indianapolis 500 and was outside the Top 20 in races at Iowa and Milwaukee. He also had poor results at Barber and Toronto.
“I’m not a believer in bad luck. A lot of people would say to me, sorry for last year, bad luck,” said Ericsson. “I don’t really believe in that. I think you make your own luck. I just didn’t do a good enough job last year.”
Whether it was luck or his own doing, Ericsson said the tough season gave him some new perspective on his driving and has enlisted some changes he feels will help him get his edge back for the 2025 campaign.
Now 34-years-old and with a wealth of knowledge and experience both in IndyCar as well as his days in Formula One, Ericsson said he has begun looking at how younger drivers are developing their skills and applying them to his own routine.
“You see all these kids these days, they come up in the series and they’re pretty much born and raised in a simulator of some kind, and they seem to all be pretty good,” he said. “I’m trying to take that up and have been working quite hard on that over the off-season.”
Ericsson has also doubled down on his physical fitness, adding 10 pounds of muscle. He is also working with a mental coach.
Quite simply, Ericsson is adding tools to his toolbox as he enters year two of his time with Andretti Global, a team that has seen some changes at the top since last season with Michael Andretti relinquishing his ownership stake in the team to new team boss Drew Towriss, CEO of the parent company of Gainbridge.
But, the team is stable in the lower ranks as they run it back again with Ericsson, Colton Herta, and Kyle Kirkwood. Andretti is staying on with the team in a special advisory role.
“I think all the tools are there,” Ericsson said. “I think if you look at last year, Colton was second in the championship “Last year, I think as a team, we had the best season. Andretti had their best season for a long time last year. Gives me a lot of confidence that we should be right up there fighting with the Penskes and Ganassis and McLarens.”