Marcus Ericsson is in talks with Carlin for an IndyCar ride following the loss of his Sauber seat in Formula 1.

The Swede has been at Sauber for four years and started nearly 100 grands prix, but will be replaced next season after the team opted for a completely new 2019 driver line-up of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi. Ericsson has signed as third driver for Sauber but wants to continue with a full-time race program elsewhere, and says IndyCar tops his list.

“The most attractive for me is IndyCar at the moment, so I’m looking at it,” Ericsson said.

“We’re talking to some teams there. I think it’s a realistic target. We also are talking to teams in other categories as well.

“For me I want to race at the highest level possible because I see myself coming back to Formula 1 in the future as well, and to be able to come back to Formula 1, I want to stay in single-seaters and I want to stay in fast cars. Looking at how it is at the moment in motorsport, for me IndyCar is the one that is the best series to do that in.”

While he has connections with Stefan Johansson, RACER understands one of the teams Ericsson is in talks with is Carlin, with only Max Chilton in the No.59 Chevy confirmed for 2019. Charlie Kimball has yet to finalize his budget for next year.

Ericsson previously raced for Trevor Carlin in Macau in 2008 and was due to drive for him the following year in Formula 3, but instead opted to compete in the Japanese F3 championship for TOMS.

Although he says he has yet to speak to fellow Swede Felix Rosenqvist about his new seat at Ganassi next year, Ericsson has had plenty of advice about an IndyCar switch.

“I’ve always looked at it and thought it would be really cool,” he said. “Now I think the racing over there is amazing, it looks so much fun, and when you speak to drivers or other people that are over there, they all seem to love it and say that the racing is great and the atmosphere is great and the series is really on the up. That’s also something that makes me quite interested in it.”