Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson had a huge crash at the start of the second practice session in the Italian GP at Monza.
It was a dramatic start to the FP2 session at Monza when Ericsson suffered a horrific crash at Variante (Turn 1) as he started off on his flying lap. The Swede lost the rear and hit the barrier hard sideways, going airbourne in the process.
The C31 flipped over multiple times before coming to a halt with a huge front-end damage but the Swede came out unscathed from the incident. Ericsson was straightaway taken to the medical center as he visibly looked shaken from the crash.
He returned to the track as he waved to the fans while walking into the garage and then into the motorhome. Replays showed the high-speed incident with the particular interest on the DRS which was open when he lost the rear into the barrier.
The session was red-flagged immediately at Monza while the track was cleared by the marshals, as the team checked on Charles Leclerc’s rear wing as well. Once the session went green, the Monegasque confirmed the DRS was not closing properly.
The team called Leclerc in as they worked on the rear wing to solve the issue. For Ericsson though, this was a second incident this season related to the DRS not closing on time in a high-speed section.
The Swede posted a message crediting the safety of the cars while looking forward to the sessions on Saturday. “I am all fine,” he said. “Thanks for all the messages. It was a big one. It is incredible, the safety of the car these days.
“Its great we have so much focus on the safety [for me to escape without any major injuries]. I feel fine and hopefully tomorrow we should be back fighting, so looking forward to that,” he added.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1035515283727941632
"I don't know what happened. I'm OK" 👍#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 FP2 pic.twitter.com/ZN8UCoW3ll
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2018
👀 A steward inspects the damage to the pit straight barrier #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/glmvG9D4Bk
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2018
Glad to report that our driver @Ericsson_Marcus is okay after his accident in FP2.#AlfaRomeoSauberF1Team #ItalianGP @F1 pic.twitter.com/AkK2GtIAPA
— Sauber F1 Team (@SauberF1Team) August 31, 2018
👍 @Ericsson_Marcus returns to the pit lane after a quick visit to the medical centre #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/VZacEKdkc1
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2018
🔧 @SauberF1Team treading carefully after Ericsson's crash – mechanics making adjustments to @Charles_Leclerc's rear wing #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/fMfNb5aKiw
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2018