Arrow SPM boss Sam Schmidt admits he and Marcus Ericsson were “p***ed” after his ultimately pointless trip to the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Swedish driver pulled out of the IndyCar race in Portland to be present at Spa-Francorchamps after Alfa Romeo had requested him to potentially fill in for Kimi Raikkonen.
However, while the Finn was struggling with a leg injury, he was able to take part in the full race weekend, leaving Ericsson on the sidelines.
“I don’t know for real what’s going on over [at Alfa Romeo in Belgium], because I was told Raikkonen was totally out for this weekend,” Schmidt stated.
“That’s why they needed Marcus, and then he gets over there and he doesn’t get an opportunity.
“He’s pretty p***ed because he wanted to be here, and he’s been driving well lately, so we were disappointed too.”
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Speaking to Swedish TV channel Viaset, Ericsson was particularly frustrated not to have a chance to prove himself both in F1 and to his IndyCar team, with his future uncertain for 2020.
“Of course it does [hurt],” he said. “I’m racing for a new contract there for next year and, of course, every time you get to race it’s an opportunity to show them what you’re made of.
“So of course it’s not optimal, but there was such a real chance of me racing this weekend that the decision was made for me to be here.
“Both Kimi and the team agreed that it was very uncertain that he was going to be able to race.
“It’s not the optimum situation for me, but that’s the case sometimes.”
And with Arrow SPM preparing for a future tie-up with McLaren next year, even Schmidt conceded there was no hard feeling.
“We wanted to do them a favour, and it’s no big deal – he’s only 17th in points, and we wanted to be nice,” he concluded.
