Ericsson lucky to avoid broken bones in chicken shunt

A bruised Marcus Ericsson has admitted that he was lucky not to break any bones after colliding with a chicken while out training on his bike in Thailand at the weekend.

Marcus Ericsson, Sauber F1 Team with fans

The Swede was spending the break between the Singapore and Malaysian Grands Prix with his trainer in Thailand and it was during a cycle session that disaster struck.

Travelling at around 45 km/h, he struck a chicken that had wandered onto the road. The collision threw him to the ground – leaving him with cuts and bruises, and a badly damaged bike.

“I came around a corner and there was a big chicken that ran out in the road and I hit it,” explained Ericsson, who has had his injuries to his arms and hands bandaged up.

“I went straight down on the asphalt. The wheel on my bike was cracked, and it was quite a big hit. I went down, got some bruises, but I was lucky not to break anything. It was at 45km/h.

“The chicken kept on running. So I don’t know what they feed these chickens in Thailand, but it must have been a strong one.”

Ericsson said he had his injuries checked over at the clinic he was staying at, but is all clear to race in Malaysia this weekend.

“The place we stay is a sports hotel, so they have a clinic there,” he said. “So it was quite good they could take care of the bruises and clean it up.

"When you do that speed, it is quite easy to break a collarbone or something like that. So I am quite lucky really.

“It is just bruises. It looks a lot worse than it is: this is precaution not to get any infections or anything else. It is to cover them up. The first two days were a bit stiff but everything is 100 per cent okay now.”

When cheekily asked about why the chicken had crossed the road, Ericsson said: “I don’t know. This is the big question.”