Fiery crash rules Ericsson out of French GP FP2 

Marcus Ericsson will take no part in second practice for the French Grand Prix after sustaining damage to his Sauber Formula 1 car in a fiery crash during FP1. 

In the closing moments of opening practice at Paul Ricard, Ericsson spun at high-speed and slammed into the barriers on the exit of Turn 11. 

The impact caused damage to the right-hand side of his Sauber C37 before a fire broke out and engulfed the rear-end of his car, burning away a significant portion of the Swede’s engine cover. 

After the session, Sauber team principal Frederic Vasseur confirmed Ericsson would sit out the second 90-minute practice session as a result of the crash. 

“For Marcus, it was a tough session this morning and he won't do FP2 this afternoon,” Vasseur said. 

Ericsson ended FP1 14th-fastest and trailed teammate Charles Leclerc by just under a tenth of a second. 

Vasseur revealed the Swiss team is debuting a small update to its 2018 car, though he admitted it was difficult to gauge the effectiveness of the upgrade after both drivers endured tricky sessions with a number of spins. 

"We have a small update on the car, but it is difficult to see this morning,” Vasseur explained. “We are step by step improving. The first package was to catch up the field and I think we did it, now we have to improve step by step."