Ericsson gets new chassis and engine after Monza shunt

After his startling crash during Free Practice 2 for the Italian Grand Prix, Marcus Ericsson is set to drive a new Sauber C37 chassis fitted with a fresh Ferrari engine for the remainder of the weekend.

Ericsson was braking hard into Monza’s Variante del Rettifolo corner as he prepared to start his first flying lap in FP2 when his car was seen to spear left into the barriers, before completing a dramatic series of barrel rolls.

Footage of the incident – in which Ericsson was unhurt – appeared to show the Swede’s DRS flap remaining open as he braked. Charles Leclerc in the sister Sauber also experienced problems with his DRS remaining open in FP2, before going on to set the ninth fastest time in the session.

The FIA later confirmed that the issue had been traced back to a design flaw on Sauber’s DRS, which the team had subsequently fixed.

Ericsson suffered a similar issue at Silverstone in July, when his DRS failed to close as he was going through the super-fast Abbey right-hander during the Grand Prix – with Ericsson later attributing the crash to his finger slipping and failing to hit the DRS button to re-shut the wing.

Because of the high g-forces Ericsson’s C37 experienced during the crash, Sauber made the call to prepare a new chassis for the Swedish driver. The team broke the 1.00am curfew last night in order to carry out work on the car, although as it was the first time they’d done that this year, no penalty was awarded.

However, because the team have also fitted the car with a new Ferrari engine – Ericsson’s fourth of the year – he will be hit with a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.