Marcus Ericsson pokes fun at IndyCar rival with a 2-word jibe 

Marcus Ericsson displayed his good sense of humor by taunting his former teammate/rival James Hinchcliffe. The duo recently met over a joint birthday dinner for Hinchcliffe and Juncos Hollinger Racing's Conor Daly.

In addition to Ericsson, Daly and Hinchliffe were joined by their partners Amymarie Gaertner and Becky Dalton. IndyCar drivers Jack Harvey and Alex Rossi, and Michael Andretti's daughter, Marissa, were among their other friends.

Daly posted a photo from their dinner on his Instagram stories where all the attendees were in high spirits. The only face absent in the picture was that of his co-birthday man Hinchcliffe. Only a part of his body and forehead were visible. Ericsson reshared the post on his stories, taking a dig at Hinchcliffe's part-presence. He wrote:

"Looking good @hinchtown🤪"

A snapshot of Marcus Ericsson's Instagram stories (@ericsson_marcus)

Ericsson and Hinchcliffe were teammates at Arrow McLaren in 2019 when the team was called Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM). It was Ericsson's rookie year in IndyCar after exiting F1 in 2018. In 2020, both drivers switched teams. While Ericsson went to Chip Ganassi Racing, Hinchcliffe headed to Andretti Autosport (now Andretti Global) after ending a 4-year stint with SPM and retired at the end of 2021.

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Marcus Ericsson and David Malukas' NHL and UFC night outs

The IndyCar offseason is in full swing. Marcus Ericsson, who wanted to pursue a professional hockey career before landing on racing, visited the NHL game between the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars. Fellow IndyCar driver David Malukas, who has signed for AJ Foyt Racing for 2025 and ahead, accompanied the 2022 Indy 500 winner to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The official IndyCar Instagram account posted photos and videos of the duo's Friday night (December 6) outing. Ericsson and Malukas not only cheered from the stands but also met and interacted with a few players in the locker room.

The very next night, the IndyCar pair attended the UFC 310 at the same venue where Alexandre Pantoja successfully defended his flyweight title against Kai Asakura by submission in Round 2.

Before the event, in a short interview posted by UFC on its Facebook channel, Ericsson spoke about the 'parallels' that can be drawn between driving an Indy car and having a fistfight in an octagon. He said:

"The adrenaline and the mental side, the focus you have to have and the mental toughness to be out there and beat the other guy, that's a lot to do with what we're doing as well, right? We're going out there, drive 240 miles an hour. You need that mental toughness and concentration, and like you said, adrenaline as well, running." (1:55)

In 2024, Marcus Ericsson finished 15th in the standings with 297 points and four Top 5 finishes while Malukas secured 24th after competing in 10 out of 18 races for Meyer Shank Racing.