Ericsson began kart racing aged nine. His father, Tomas, was initially reluctant to support a racing career due to financial constraints. Former Champ Car driver and 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Bräck spotted Ericsson at a race in Gothenburg and arranged for Richard Dutton of Fortec Motorsport to run him. Bräck recalled: "He didn't get caught in any battles when passing – he'd just wait for the right opportunity, then he pounced and he was away. He has such patience but when he does go for it, it measures so perfectly. He reminded me of watching Alain Prost."
Ericsson raced for Fortec in the 2007 Formula BMW UK championship. He won at Brands Hatch from pole in the second race and was described by Autosport as "the best young talent" Bräck had seen. Ericsson won the title by 40 points over Josef Král, becoming the final champion of the British Formula BMW series before it merged with the German series.
After the Formula BMW title, Ericsson tested with Räikkönen Robertson Racing and ART Grand Prix, but opted to remain with Fortec's British Formula Three squad. He received two pole positions and podium finishes but no victories, finishing fifth overall.
In late 2008 Ericsson signed with the Japanese F3 team TOM'S for 2009. He won the Japanese F3 championship outright and made guest appearances in British F3. At the Macau Grand Prix he qualified on pole and finished fourth in the main race.
Ericsson entered the GP2 Asia Series in 2009–10 before competing in the GP2 Series proper with Super Nova Racing in 2010, taking one victory at Valencia. He moved to iSport International in 2011 alongside Sam Bird and stayed for 2012 alongside Jolyon Palmer, winning at Spa and lifting to eighth in the championship. For 2013, Ericsson joined DAMS, took pole positions in Spain and Great Britain, won the feature race in Germany, and posted podiums in Hungary, Belgium, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi, finishing sixth.
Ericsson drove for Brawn GP at the young driver test at Circuito de Jerez in December 2009, testing alongside IndyCar driver Mike Conway. Team principal Ross Brawn commended him for "exceptional maturity in his approach and feedback."
Ericsson was announced as a Caterham F1 driver on 21 January 2014, partnering Kamui Kobayashi. At the 2014 Australian Grand Prix he qualified 20th, running 11th before an oil pressure problem forced him back. In Monaco qualifying he collided with Felipe Massa of Williams, received two penalty points, and was forced to start from the pit lane; he finished 11th, narrowly missing Caterham's first points. He qualified a career-best 17th at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, missing Q2 by only 0.15 seconds. Caterham entered administration on 21 October 2014; Ericsson terminated his contract on 12 November and finished the season 19th overall, highest of the Caterham drivers.
Sauber announced Ericsson on 1 November 2014. In his first race with the team in Australia, Ericsson finished eighth — the first points finish by a Swedish driver since Stefan Johansson placed third at the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. He made Q3 in Malaysia and China in 2015, finishing tenth in China.
In 2018 Sauber rebranded as the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 team, and Charles Leclerc joined as teammate. At the Bahrain Grand Prix Ericsson finished ninth, his first points in 49 races since the 2015 Italian Grand Prix. He also scored points at the Austrian, German, Belgian, USA, and Mexican Grands Prix. At the Italian Grand Prix, a DRS failure at high speed caused his car to slam the wall in second practice; the car rolled three times but he was uninjured.
Just before the 2018 Russian Grand Prix, it was announced that Antonio Giovinazzi would replace Ericsson for 2019. Ericsson remained with Sauber as third driver and brand ambassador. His five seasons in Formula One, comprising 97 Grand Prix starts, he described as mentally challenging.
Ericsson was announced as a full-time Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver on 30 October 2018. In his rookie IndyCar season he scored a podium at the Detroit Grand Prix. In September 2019 he was on standby for an injured Kimi Räikkönen at the Belgian Grand Prix, missing the Grand Prix of Portland; Räikkönen ultimately ran. Ericsson finished the 2019 season 17th in points.
Ericsson moved to Chip Ganassi Racing for 2020. During the pandemic-shortened season he scored top-ten finishes in over half his races, with a best of fourth at the second race at Road America.
Confirmed for further seasons in October 2020, Ericsson had his breakout year in 2021. He won his first IndyCar race at the Detroit doubleheader opener — his first win in any category since the 2013 GP2 feature race in Germany — benefiting from the misfortune of race leader Will Power whose car refused to restart during a formation lap following a red flag. Ericsson also won the inaugural round at Nashville, finished second to Josef Newgarden at Mid Ohio, and ended the season sixth in the championship with 435 points.
In 2022, Ericsson recorded his first oval podium with a third-place finish in the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway. Wearing a helmet painted in honour of his countryman Ronnie Peterson, Ericsson won the 2022 Indianapolis 500 under caution after holding off Pato O'Ward on a late restart. He became the second Swedish driver to win the Indianapolis 500, after Kenny Bräck in 1999. The win and strong early-season results put Ericsson in the championship lead for the first time. A six-race streak of successive top-ten finishes followed, with a second place at Road America his final podium of the campaign. He finished sixth in the standings, narrowly behind teammate Álex Palou.
Ericsson opened 2023 by winning the season opener in St. Petersburg. He finished second in the 2023 Indianapolis 500, overtaken by Josef Newgarden on the final lap. He ended the season sixth in the standings for the third consecutive year.
On 23 August 2023, Ericsson was announced as leaving Chip Ganassi Racing and joining Andretti Autosport for 2024. In the 2025 Indianapolis 500, Ericsson initially finished second but was disqualified after the race due to his car failing the technical inspection.
Ericsson's younger brother, Hampus, is also a racing driver; Ericsson coaches and mentors him and manages his career. Ericsson is married to Iris Tritsaris Jondahl. The two live in Indianapolis.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
