It seems like every year, there are a number of Formula 1 drivers asked about their desire to do compete in the Indy 500 at some point later on, either as one-off like we've seen two-time world champion Fernando Alonso do, or as a full-time driver like we've seen a number former Formula 1 drivers do, including in recent years.
And every year, there are Formula 1 drivers who straight-up say they are scared of competing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour, coming within inches of the unforgiving walls in the four turns of the 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval.
Marcus Ericsson made the move from Formula 1 to IndyCar after the 2018 season, and in 2022, he became an Indy 500 champion. He nearly won the race in back-to-back years, as Josef Newgarden passed him on the final lap in 2023 after a controversial restart.
A 2023 would have made him the first back-to-back winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.
Yet at one point, he too would have considered himself frightened of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing". But he knows now that that narrative is not necessarily based on the facts, given the level of safety innovation that has been a part of IndyCar over the years.
“Yeah, it was definitely a big challenge," Ericsson told Beyond the Flag of his own move to IndyCar, specifically oval racing.
"I think for me what helped me a lot was sort of my mental approach to it. I was very keen to learn and very keen to sort of succeed at the ovals, whereas a lot of European drivers, they come over and they sort of have the mindset they wish there were no ovals and they just want to do the road and street courses, and I think that really makes it difficult to be really good at it when you have that sort of mentality around it.
"So for me, being very open and very like, ‘I want to learn, I want to become good at it’, really helped me to speed up that process."
He was able to overcome that "European" mentality in his fourth Indy 500 start, when he converted his first ever Indy 500 top 10 finish into a victory. And knowing what he knows now, versus what he might have once thought about IndyCar, he believes other Formula 1 drivers can learn something from that experience, and maybe not be so hesitant to want to compete in the Indy 500.
“I think it comes from, just looking at myself when I was over there in Formula 1, people don't really know how the race is run, with the safety and all the stuff that's been done the last few years in the car, the racing," he explained.
"I think there's a lot about the history in the past, where there have been bad crashes and stuff, so I think people are sort of scared of it because of that. But IndyCar racing for sure, doing those speeds, is always going to be dangerous, to some extent.
"But the safety has gone up significantly the last 10-20 years in IndyCar, so I think it's more that people don't really know the facts, and then it's easier to say that they are a bit scared to come over or don't want to come over.”
Now Ericsson is a full-fledged IndyCar driver.
The four-time race winner is in his seventh full season in the series and second with Andretti Global after an impressive three-year run with Chip Ganassi Racing. He qualified ninth for this year's Indy 500.
“I feel we're good," he said. "The team has done a really good job over the winter to prepare the cars, and I think we had, even in the open test, we were really comfortable in the cars. The balance was really nice and we had good speed as well, so I feel like we're really going to be strong and be in the mix, and that's all you can really ask for."
He admits that he still thinks about the 2023 result, and he still isn't particularly pleased with the sequence of events that led to Newgarden's race-winning pass.
"It still stings, that one, for sure, and I think it always will, but at the same time, I sort of try to put that behind me and actually use it as motivation to win again," he admitted.
"I don't feel like being angry about it or upset about it today is going to help me in any shape or form, so it's just like, yes, I will always be disappointed with how that ended and the way it ended, but at the same time, I can't do anything about it now, so it just motivates me to work even harder to win it again."
Either way, he is still an Indy 500 champion, and his face will forever be enshrined on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
"Yeah, it does feel different," he said about the annual return to Indy as a former winner. "I thought it was magical coming here even before. It's such a cool place, but of course, being a 500 champion, it makes it even extra special, and it's something about being here is just unique in so many ways, and being in the month of May with all the traditions, the extra attention you get when you're a past winner as well, is very cool, so yeah, it's exciting times for us as a winner."
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