How a €20 million shock stopped a driver reaching F1

Former Mercedes F1 test driver Sam Bird has revealed how Marcus Ericsson bringing €20 million in backing prevented him from securing a race seat with Caterham.

Bird, best known for spending 11 seasons racing in Formula E, spent several campaigns with Mercedes, completing multiple tests for the Brackley-based outfit.

His first F1 outing came for Mercedes in the 2010 end-of-season rookies’ test in Abu Dhabi, before leaving the Silver Arrows at the end of 2013.

The Briton knew a race seat with Mercedes was highly unlikely, but was in positive discussions with backmarker Caterham over a seat for 2014.

While Bird had yet to sign a contract, he was optimistic about his chances before being taken out of the simulator during his first session and informed he was no longer required.

Former F1 driver Ericsson ultimately raced for Caterham in 2014 after bringing €20 million in backing, something Bird simply could not match. From that moment, Bird recognised that an F1 race seat was likely off the cards.

Asked on the Lucas Stewart YouTube channel when he realised a seat in F1 was unlikely, Bird explained: "So I'd just come second in GP2 with a brand-new team. I think I won six races that year, and it was never going to happen at Mercedes. 

"And Mercedes didn't really have a junior programme at that time. I was, like, a couple of years earlier, and I was a Ross Brawn guy, not a Toto [Wolff] guy.

"I spoke with Caterham, and I went on Caterham's simulator. Things were looking really good to then, in 2014, step into the Caterham. 

"As I was doing my first simulator session there — I hadn't signed anything, but it was looking good — I was dragged out of the simulator and told, 'Look, your services are no longer required because a guy called Marcus Ericsson is going to come along, and he's bringing 20 million euros.'

"So it was at that point, because I didn't bring any money, that I thought, 'This is never going to happen.' So I had to look at alternative routes into paid professional motorsport. And that was effectively the end of Formula 1 for me."