Marcus Ericsson scored his third consecutive points finish at the Italian Grand Prix at the weekend and has put his improved form down to a change of attitude toward each race weekend.
The Sauber driver scored twice in the opening three races, but failed to score a single point in the six races between China and Britain, prompting him to change his approach, particularly during practice.
“It was a good effort [in Monza],” he said. “I think it was a strong race and probably my best in F1.
“I’ve worked a lot with myself and I’ve changed quite a bit in my mental approach to a race weekend and try to be more calm, and more working step by step with my engineer building up the weekends, focussing on qualifying and the races and not putting anything into the practice sessions apart from getting all the information we need for the rest of the weekend.
“For me it made a big difference because I feel I’m a lot more focussed now and showing my potential a lot more now.”
His increased focus on collecting data on a Friday and getting the car suited to his driving style has helped him score in each of the last three races, unlike his team-mate Felipe Nasr who has yet to score since Monaco, six races ago.
“I’ve been working hard with my engineer, we have a very good relationship and we work to get the car more to my liking and suiting my driving style and that has helped as well.
“And then I think as in every sport when you start to perform well your confidence grows and you feel more strong inside yourself and you perform better.”
