Marcus Ericsson Quotes

There was very little opportunity to carry on in Formula 1. My goal was to get on to the starting grid and that didn't look achievable.

I had other proposals and I was talking to people but then I decided that staying at Ferrari would give me my best chance of winning the championship.

It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP as I have been impressed by the scope of the team's ambition.

My first pole position is an emotional and hopefully historic moment as I want to be in F1 for many, many years.

I'm still a Red Bull driver. I'm part of this family more than ever.

The fact is that I've got a contract with the BMW Williams F1 team until the end of 2004, and that the team will naturally be my number one negotiating partner for the following period.

When I first climbed into a go-kart, aged 13, I thought to myself: 'This is what I want to do with my life, and I want to drive F1.'

My goals in the future is to not just be in Formula 1. I want to be really successful, World Champion, though I guess this is like everyone! But that is what I'm targeting.

As a racing driver, everything you do is to get to Formula 1 and one day it stops.

I am living my childhood dream of racing in Formula 1 and I've put my whole life into achieving that dream so it is only natural for me to be giving absolutely everything I've got, to achieve success in racing and the day I no longer do that I will retire from racing immediately.

The debut season in F1 is obviously very tough but it's been OK. The aim for me is to stay in Formula One for many years and that's what we're working at doing at the moment.

When you do everything you can to be an F1 driver and suddenly it stops, it's not painful but it's definitely not something you were looking for.

My big break came at 22 years old when I joined the Mercedes Benz touring championship team.

I really want to thank Red Bull Racing and Dr. Helmut Marko for the confidence they have in me.

In my time in F1, I never doubted I could be successful. I sadly never made it on to the starting grid of an F1 race, but during testing I completed a race distance.

I think 19 years, what I've done, you see nowadays people get there with money and so on, but they last one or two years. To be able to have lasted that long, it's still impressive for me. I had a blast being a Formula 1 driver.

When I'm done fighting, I want to look to get some sort of driving career somewhere. My goal is to eventually get into the Mint 400 and do the trophy truck stuff.

What many people don't realise is the first F1 test I was offered by Frank Williams and the team was a one-off. It was never planned that I would become part of the team or it would lead to more.

I started racing at club level, then the Scottish championship, then the British championship, then the European, then the Worlds. I went through all the various ranks. I spent a good ten years doing karting.

Around 16 years old, when I was in Formula 3 and looking at potential options for the future, that's when I realized that Formula One was in the picture. But to be honest, I really just took it year by year throughout my karting years and stuff.

I still wanted to race in Formula One, for a correct team, a nice team, one that is professional, where you would feel important. But there was no position for me to carry on, so I felt if that opportunity wasn't there, then it would be better for me to stop, and start thinking about doing different things.

McLaren were one of the first teams I liked and supported.

As has been the case with Sebastian Vettel, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, we're always going to draw upon the talent pool we have.

I wanted to be a professional motor racer. It was only due to lack of sponsors that I could not do it.

It's been my dream to race in F1 since I was eight. I don't see why that should change just because I've changed. It's a big challenge but I like to push myself. The accident has toughened me up and made me realise what's important. It's spurred me on to get to F1.