The Sauber driver love-fest continues

The love-fest is continuing over at Sauber with Marcus Ericsson hailing Charles Leclerc as the “strongest team-mate” he’s ever had.

Earlier this week, rookie driver Leclerc sung the praises of Ericsson.

“He is a very good driver. He has a bad reputation, but I don’t think he deserves it,” he told Speed Week.

“He has been very fast and made it difficult for me.”

Ericsson has responded with some praise of his own as he reckons in Leclerc he has the “strongest” team-mate he’s ever had in Formula 1.

Ericsson previously partnered Felipe Nasr and Pascal Wehrlein.

“If I look at Charles’s CV, with the successes he has had in junior formulas, he is one of the best drivers to come to Formula One in recent years,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

“For me he is the strongest team-mate I have ever had.”

The Swede added that he has an advantage over his rookie team-mate given his time at Sauber.

“I am now in my fourth year at Sauber, I feel at home. I know all the people, know how the engineers work. My experience with the team is of course an advantage for me.”

While Leclerc has yet to get off the mark this season, Ericsson scored in Bahrain – his first top-ten result since Italy 2015.