It has emerged ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix and the summer break that Sauber F1 team has announced that it will retain their two drivers – Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr for 2016 by virtue of extending their respective contracts. The team will run an unchanged line-up for the first time since 2012. With the Sauber 2016 drivers announced at this relatively early stage, this closes up some of the questions which has been asked.
Ericsson, 24 will start his third Formula One season with the Swiss team whilst impressive rookie Nasr, 22, will start his second season with the team. Nasr had previously been linked with teams including Williams for 2016.
In a statement on their website, the team made the announcement on Thursday lunchtime.
In the statement, Ericsson said that he was happy that the Sauber F1 Team has put its trust in my potential for another year. Up to now I have some good memories of my first year with the long-standing Swiss team. I had a great start from the very beginning, and it is worth mentioning my first points in Formula One that I scored right away during the season-opener.
Meanwhile, Nasr said that it is great to be driving another season for the Sauber F1 Team. The extension to the contract with the Sauber F1 Team is an important step in my career. During the first half of the season, in what
is my rookie year, I was able to gain a lot of experience from a driving perspective as well as on the personal side.
Sauber came under much scrutiny ahead of the first race at Australia, after it emerged that the team had signed no less than five drivers for the 2015 season, and a legal battle with former test driver Giedo van der Garde overshadowed the strong double points finish that the team achieved.
Sauber are currently seventh in the championship standings, doing significantly better than the tenth place which they achieved last year. Nasr lies 11th in the Drivers’ Championship, whilst Ericsson is 16th.
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