Marcus Ericsson doesn’t hold back his feelings on his brutal Indy 500 penalty

Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson recently opened up about the Indy 500 penalty handed over to him, his teammate Kyle Kirkwood and Prema Racing's Calum Illot. The 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 took place on May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

IndyCar on Monday announced that the Andretti Global cars, along with the #90 car of Prema Racing, were sent to the back of the grid in 31st, 32nd and 33rd position, respectively, after the cars failed to pass the technical inspection. Additionally, each team was handed a fine of $100,000 and the team manager was suspended for one race.

Speaking to the press on the red carpet at the Indianapolis 500 victory celebration on Monday, Marcus Ericsson addressed the same. He said,

"The team is reviewing it all. It’s a very harsh penalty. But if that’s the rules, then that’s the rules. We respect the integrity of the sport."

The Swedish driver further added how everyone at the team was disheartened by the decision.

"Everyone is really sad and kind of heartbroken about it because it was a big result for all of us. This is a winner-takes-it-all race and I was heartbroken yesterday how close we were to win it but it still was as great result.To get that taken away was pretty tough for all of us."

The penalties were handed out after unapproved modifications were made to the ERS system on both cars. The Andretti Global team has appealed for a review of the penalties handed out to the team.

The 34-year-old was having a decent outing at the Indianapolis 500 and led the race from lap 170 onwards. However, during the 187th lap, Alex Palou took the lead of the race and eventually drove his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing car to victory.

Ericsson finished the race .068 seconds behind Palou. Notably, the former was eyeing his second victory at the Indianapolis 500, having claimed his first in 2022 with his pervious team, Chip Ganassi Racing.

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Marcus Ericsson speaks about Josef Newgarden's controversial 2023 Indy 500 win

Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson recently commented on Josef Newgarden's 2023 Indy 500 victory. The former Formula One driver was particularly struck by IndyCar's restart procedure with just a single lap remaining. Josef Newgarden, who held second position, overtook Ericsson to ultimately secure the win.

The race was restarted without a warm-up lap, proceeding directly into the single-lap shootout. The Swedish driver who was chasing his second consecutive victory was furious about the decision made by IndyCar.

Recalling the incident while in conversation with Motorsport.com, he said,

"It's always gonna be a bit of a sting for me thinking about it," he shared. "I was so close going back to back, and if that race would have been called like it [had been] called for over 100 years, I would be back-to-back champion."

"But at the same time, you know, that's, that's how it goes. This race is unique in its own way. And you know, I've accepted that. Whatever happened, happened. If anything, it just made me hungry to try and win again. It's always going to be painful to think about how close I was… . It's not something that keeps me up at night. Probably, like I say, giving me more motivation to try and win it."

Marcus Ericsson could have become the first driver to secure back to back wins at the Indy 500 since Helio Castroneves in 2001-02.