NEWS

It’s never easy to step out of the shadow of a sibling, especially when they are a winner of the Indianapolis 500 and an ex-Formula One driver.

However, for Hampus Ericsson, the younger brother of Marcus, he’s been able to forge his own unique path in racing and it’s led to him being included in the roster of Young Professional Drivers at Lamborghini Squadra Corse.

Currently battling for the Pro title in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, Ericsson’s first venture across the Atlantic has proven successful, alongside his Wayne Taylor Racing team-mate, and two-time champion Danny Formal.

Ericsson followed the path of many young drivers over the years: junior single seaters in the United Kingdom followed by a move to single-make GT racing. The decision to jump onto the career ladder in sportscar racing rather than attempt to follow Marcus on the road to F1 was, for Hampus, a logical one.

“For me, Formula One felt so far away, because talent alone is not enough,” Ercisson says. “You need to have the right timing, the money and the sponsors too, everything needs to happen at the same time.

“And after my three years in single seaters, I felt I needed to change the scenery a bit and do something different if I was to get a career in motorsport.

“I did a year in Formula 3 in the UK and after that, I went back to Sweden to race in GTs. That wasn’t a waste of money, but we did it because we needed to race something before taking the next step, so it was a good experience anyway.”

With the price tag of single seaters getting bigger and bigger, Ericsson knew his childhood ambitions of following his brother into Formula One were over.

Four years in one-make GT racing in Sweden followed, which brought with it a new career opportunity: endurance racing with big manufacturers. Suddenly for Ericsson, the idea of making a living out of racing became a realistic aim once again.

“Those four years, even though it was racing just in Sweden [where motorsport is still quite a small industry] were very useful and the championship was very professional,” explains Ericsson.

“Also, the fact that it was a one-make series was something I liked a lot, because it’s kind of black and white. If you do well, you get a contact with the manufacturer and you get the chance to evolve as a driver on and off the track.

“That helped me a lot last year with Lamborghini, because their programme has helped me improve a lot as a driver and as a person. These kinds of projects are great for young drivers who have ambitions but who maybe don’t know exactly what or where they want to be.”

Selected for the National Team Sweden development programme [organised by the Sweden ASN to develop young up-and-coming talents], Ericsson made the switch to Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe for the 2024 season, joining compatriot and subsequent series runner-up Oliver Söderström at Target Racing.

“After the last season in Sweden, I didn’t really know what to do,” admits Ericsson. “All I knew was that I wanted to go to Europe and race in Europe.

“And all of a sudden, I found myself in a Lamborghini Super Trofeo at Barcelona for a test…and my God! I was blown away by the power, the noise, I was like: ‘wow, this is crazy!’

“From that moment onwards, I was very impressed, and we signed a deal pretty immediately to do the full European season.”

Unlike his team-mates Söderström and Largim Ali, Ericsson competed as a solo driver in the European series in 2024, making the most of the extra seat time to gain as much experience as possible.

This added advantage paid off handsomely in the second half of the campaign, taking a maiden podium finish and first victory in the season-concluding Jerez de la Frontera World Finals.

“Coming into the season, I was looking at it as a learning year of course, I really didn’t know what to expect from the championship, Lamborghini or myself. But I was just trying to enjoy it as much as I could and learn from my team-mates Largim and Oliver who were in their second year.

“Everything went well, I didn’t have the maximum pace to fight for the championship, but the second half of the season was really strong. And then in the World Finals, we almost executed perfect, with my first victory.

“It was a great weekend, not only for the win, but to be able to show to everyone and yourself that you can do it. I just remember coming back to the pits and speaking with [double Lamborghini World Finals winner] Frederik Schandorff, who was my team-mate that weekend, and he told me that this would change everything for me.

“And he was right!”

Ericsson took part in the end-of-season Lamborghini Young Driver shootout at Jerez following the completion of the World Finals and impressed enough to earn himself the status of Lamborghini Young Professional Driver for the 2025 campaign.

A second Super Trofeo season also followed, but this time on the other side of the pond in the North American championship with esteemed outfit Wayne Taylor Racing alongside fellow YPD Formal.

A double victory on debut at Sebring (under the watchful eye of his brother Marcus, who was in attendance) was followed by a slightly trickier few rounds at Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen, but the pair got back to winning ways in round four at Road America, taking another clean sweep to put themselves firmly in the hunt for the title.

“This season has been mega, the professionalism they have in that team is unreal,” reflects Ericsson. “The equipment they have, the people, the processes and how they approach the race weekends or testing, it’s on another level.

“They have the IMSA GTD team as well of course, and this just feels like an extension of the GTD team. That environment helps me as well, I have so much to learn but I feel like I am in the right place for that. Also, with my team-mate Danny, he’s a super professional, super-fast guy and he has helped me a lot with the different tracks.

“Sebring was mega, Laguna Seca was also pretty good but obviously we had some issues and missed the win by such a small margin, but the start of the season was really good.

“Of course, the main goal is to win the championship and focus on the World Finals. If you are in the Pro class, you have to be aiming to win the title. We’ll do everything we can to bring it home but there are a lot of good drivers in our championship and the fight is hard.

“So, we have to stay focused, stay humble and try to do our best.”