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Ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson believes winning an IndyCar race in his rookie season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is “achievable” in 2019.
Ericsson has switched to IndyCar after Sauber opted for a line-up of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen for the coming F1 season.
In his five years in F1, Ericsson’s best result was eighth and his last victory in any series came during his 2013 GP2 campaign.
Ericsson has completed two IndyCar tests at Sebring for SPM and believes his compatibility with new team-mate James Hinchcliffe can help him achieve his target of a first win in the series.
“Winning a race is the goal for sure; it has to be,” said Ericsson.
“I have huge respect for the top guys in this series who have been here a long time, and have experience racing on these types of tracks in this type of car.
“So I know it will be a big challenge for me.
“But I have a great team behind me and with [title sponsor] Arrow stepping up their involvement, that will help the team make another step, so I really feel we have that possibility to win.
“You always have to aim high in order to achieve something and I’ve set that personal goal – to win a race this year and fight as much as I can up front.
“It’s a tough target but it’s achievable.”
Regarding Hinchcliffe, Ericsson added: “It was a very positive surprise that we both give feedback that’s similar and what we want from the car is very similar.
“It’s always something you wonder about before you’re teammates, because it’s always a big help to the drivers and the team in general if you’re pushing in the same direction.
“That’s going to be great as we go forward into the season because practice sessions are so short.
“We can try different things and if James finds something that works for him, I know it will probably work for me and the same the other way round. That will speed up the process of creating good setups.”
Ericsson says his early tests have shown him that the current Indycar is not an easy machine to learn.
“I’m trying to build up a reference about what each change does to the car and its handling balance,” he told Autosport.
“That’s the basic idea – for me to have a reference in my head and also for the team to have a reference for how I react to the setup changes.
“And of course there’s the driving, the basics. Every lap I’m learning more about an IndyCar, because it’s not an easy car to learn. It’s tough to get your head around it and know how to use it in the best possible way.
“But in the last one-and-a-half hours I was really starting to get into the groove, and we had a really good end to the test.
“I left there with a really good feeling.”