Marcus Ericsson makes special announcement about swapping IndyCar for endurance racing

IndyCar driver Marcus Ericsson has announced that he will participate in the Michelin 12 Hour Malaysia at the Sepang International Circuit in December. The former F1 driver and 2022 Indy 500 winner will race for Leipert Motorsport, which is fielding an all-Swedish lineup for the endurance event.

Marcus Ericsson will race a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo II alongside his brother Hampus Ericsson, who recently won the 2025 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America title, and Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia drivers Thomas Karlsson and Axel Bengtsson.

Ericsson announced the move via an Instagram post, the caption to which read:

"We’re going GT racing!! Super excited to announce that I’m doing the Michelin 12h Malaysia in December. It’s a dream come true as I’m sharing the car together with my brother @ericssonhampus for the first time. We’re gonna be an all Swedish car as @thomasgt3 and @axeelbengtsson are completing the line up 🇸🇪🔥. Bring it on!! 🤩💪🏻"

The Michelin 12 Hour Malaysia is the first time that the Michelin 24H series will race in the Far East. The inaugural event will be held on December 6, and unlike the other events, which run in two parts, it will be a nonstop 12-hour race. It will act as the first round of the 2025-26 24H Series Middle East calendar.

This won't be the first time Marcus Ericsson competes in an endurance event. The Andretti Global driver has raced in IMSA's Rolex 24 at Daytona twice, with Cadillac Racing in the DPi class in 2022, and with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti in 2024 in the GTP class.

Marcus Ericsson eyeing a turnaround in 2026 after 'mysterious' problems hamper his Andretti Global stint

The No. 28 Andretti Global Honda of Marcus Ericsson at the IndyCar Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 - Source: Getty

Marcus Ericsson's IndyCar career took a downturn after he left Chip Ganassi Racing to join Andretti Global in 2024. After three consecutive years of finishing sixth in the standings with CGR, he dropped to 15th in 2024 and plummeted to 20th in 2025.

The past season saw him earn only two Top 10 finishes. A runner-up at the Indy 500 would've been his best result if his No. 28 entry wasn't disqualified after post-race technical inspection. Most other race weekends were marred by misfortune or driver and team errors, and the end result was unfortunately the same.

"I feel like we've had so many different things go wrong for us," Ericsson said via FOX Sports. "It's been technical issues, and then wrong side of strategy, and then wrong tire at the wrong time. But it's quite clear, it comes down to race execution. We've just been really bad at execution in the races. [It was] not like a single thing that we always do wrong. It's just like different things every race that we just end up missing out on."

What baffled the 35-year-old was that his racecraft no longer seemed to be good enough for better results.

"We need to focus on for next year on how can we execute races better. And that includes myself, of course. But it's been a bit of a mystery because all my career, even back in my F1 days, my race craft and race execution was always my biggest strength, and the same in IndyCar. So it’s very strange how we sort of have lost the plot there this year and just been really struggling," he further added.

2026 is the last year of Marcus Ericsson's contract with Andretti Global. Alongside current teammate Kyle Kirkwood, he will have a new teammate in two-time IndyCar champion Will Power, who replaces Colton Herta. Both those drivers are under contract with the team until at least the end of 2027.

Edited by Yash Kotak