Marcus Ericsson believes his Sauber team does have the potential to finish as the lead midfield outfit on the grid next season.
2018 has seen quite a renaissance for the Swiss squad as a closer partnership with Ferrari has seen the now class-leading engine in the back of their car and a technical alliance with Alfa Romeo has also worked dividends.
In the flurry of races before the summer break, the team was often seen challenging inside the top 10, albeit mostly through Ericsson's teammate Charles Leclerc. Looking forward though, the Swede only sees a continuation of the upward trend.
"As a team, you need to always aim high and I think with the rate of progress we made this year, I think for sure it has to be our target to be in the top of the midfield come next year," he told Crash.net.
"We have to see but I feel that’s not unrealistic."
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Despite a rocky few years financially, Sauber has previously been known as one of the top midfield squads on the grid and has been known to punch above its weight with the 2012 season perfect proof.
While returning to the heights of occasional podiums may still be some way off though, Ericsson does think the opportunity is there.
"I think the potential in this team is massive," he said. "If you go to the factory the facilities are great and the wind tunnel is great.
"It’s just a different thing altogether to go to the race weekends compared to the last few seasons because the last two seasons I knew we needed a big crash, we needed the weather to turn around completely.
"Now we go into a race weekend knowing that if we do everything right we will be there and fight for points on a Sunday.
"It’s such a nice feeling and it is so motivating as well for me and for the team to know that going into every weekend. Also, you can see back in the factory as well how much people are motivated and happy to be back fighting."
