Esteban Gutiérrez

He’s the first rookie to be confirmed on the 2013 grid and the announcement has raised more than a little debate so its about time he had his own thread. Due to the fact he’s replacing a very popular driver who has had a fair rate of success, and the Mexican sponsorship the Sauber team has, his appointment hasn’t exactly been met with a wave of excitement and the words ‘pay driver’ can be heard being mumbled in dark corners of internet forums. I will have to say being a massive Kobi fan I was one of those mumblers but then I took a closer look at the stats.

Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (so good they named him twice) was born 5th August in Mpnterrey, Nuevo Leon Mexico. At 16 Esteban graduated from Karting to single seater racing by taking part in the Formula BMW USA series. He finished second in the series and at the tender age of 17 he packed his bags and was off to Europe for the Formula BMW Europe series which he promptly won at the first attempt. The following season he moved up to the Formula 3 Euroseries and by his standards had a rather average season and placed 9th in the championship. 2010 saw the beginning of the GP3 series which was dominated by Gutierrez from start to finish with 5 wins and 9 podiums. His GP3 title saw him earn a step up to GP2 as well as the Sauber test driver spot.

His first season in GP2 was hardly a run away success with him only scoring 15 points but it did see him take 2 podiums, a pole and a win so he did show some potential as well as getting some track time with Sauber in F1. His 2012 GP2 campaign started slowly but he was scoring points. It wasn’t until Valencia that he scored a victory and despite 2 more following in Britain and Hungary he was never really in the championship race. He did secure a clear third though which was obviously enough for Telmex and Sauber as he will be on the grid for 2013.

But the majority of people aren’t welcoming him with open arms because they see him as coming in and replacing a popular driver because of sponsorship reasons. Whilst there is an element of this it is an actual shame as Gutierrez has one of the best junior records of any rookie coming into F1 in recent years, he certainly has a better junior record than Sergio Perez, and whilst it might have been another year down the line there is no question that he would have/does deserve his place on the F1 grid and whilst his nationality probably plays a part in his appointment there are some other reasons you can see too. Throughout his junior career Gutierrez has had one thing that neither of the Sauber drivers have had this season, consistency. In his GP3 championship years he had 10 points finishes out of 16 – last year in GP2 he had 19 points finishes out of 24. It could be argued that if the 2 Sauber drivers had that kind of consistency then the team would have been able to secure 5th in the constructors championship. So if Esteban can convert his junior form into F1 then surely Sauber are laughing.

However I do worry for the lad as I can’t help but feel he’s on a loser unless he hits the ground running amazingly fast. With a team-mate with as much skill as Hulkenberg he’s going to have a difficult job of keeping up, add to that the fact he’s replacing Kobi and I can see the media and the fans turning on him very quickly if results don’t go well and it could dent his confidence.


I guess we’ll have to see which direction he goes in when he gets thrown into the F1 shark pool next year. What does anyone else think? Sink or swim for Gutierrez?
 
I feel a bit sorry for Esteban, he said at one point last year he wasn't sure he was ready for F1, but he was thrust into the hot seat early following Perez's abdication. I think like Grosjean some more time in lower formulae is needed. How old is he, 21?
 
A word for Gutierrez after todays Spanish Grand Prix as he has had some criticsm of late but had a good drive today and was unlucky to miss out on points by a car length. Still fastest lap is one for the scrap book.

I do wonder if his up turn in form might have something to do with Sauber reserve driver Frinjs rockinf up in GP2 and blitzing it though.
 
So Gutierrez might be looking at becoming a one season wonder which is a shame really. He's not really got the hang of F1 just yet although his top ten quali at Singapore shows he's getting there. He has had an awful Sauber to contend with though.

Its a shame really because his junior record was good and he probably needed another year or two in GP2 before he hit the spotlight (something he said himself). People think he's a pay driver but actually he has no personal sponsors and was only thrust into the Sauber seat because Telmex said they'd only sponsor them if they had a Mexican driver!

Now with Telmex seemingly pulling out if F1 old Esteban is left with no backer and a worse rep than he deserves.

Maybe take the Grosjean route and go back to GP2.
 
Q3 for the second weekend in a row for Guttierrez. He seems to have finally found the car.

I'll be cheering him on to get a points finish tomorrow even if no one else will.
 
My 5th post in a row on the Guttierrez thread but just wanted to.bring this little piece he's written to people's attention

http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2013/11/15317.html

He seems a level headed chap and admitts it didn't click until Singapore. He's keeping a positive attitude on whether he'll be in F1 next year but if you read between the lines I think he knows its likely he'll miss out. He has no personal sponsors as backing and with the whole Sauber/Telmex relationship seemingly dead they have no reason to keep him.

I think its a shame because his second half of the season performances and his junior record prob earned him the right at a second season but thats F1 at the moment.

As he's not a GP2 champion he can re-enter the series. I wonder if he'll go.down that route. It worked for Grosjean.
 
It would be a shame if he had to leave F1 this year. He did state that he didn't feel ready for the challenge but his performances have really shown that he has developed into a fairly decent F1 driver with even more potential for the come years.
 
Other than the incredibly one sided battle he lost, the main problem Gutierrez had was that even in his best races (he had like 5 good races... :ermmm:) Hulkenberg was always there doing an even better job in a higher place. He just doesn't cut the mustard as an F1 driver for me.
 
I don't think he should have been in F1 this year. I don't think he thinks he should have been in F1 this year really but I guess its hard to say no when you're offered the spot. He was certainly thrown in at the deep end with a team that was struggling financially and a team mate who is pretty much one of the top guys in F1.

You may very well be right about him not cutting the mustard no-FIAt-please but I still think he's shown enough to at least get a second bit of the cherry to prove different. This is a guy who has won junior catogries after all and not just around because of his budget.

I'd rather see Sauber give him a second chance than give the seat to Sutil who's been around long enough for us to know he's getting no better or Sirotkin who has hardly run in single seaters at all.
 
I think it's amazing the an actual muppet such as Kermit the frog has actually managed a full season in f1 whilst wearing a rubber mask without anyone realising his real identity (sorry). Its just amazing he can control a car with cloth hands worked by wires. Kermit has been bad no strings about it (sorry) but so were other drivers in their first year and maybe with practise his puppeteer will get the hang of it.
kermit.jpg
 
Bless, just heard him interviewed on Sky and he does sound so much like a muppet. He also needs to cut back on the neck weights.
 
How on earth is this guy still in an F1 car. His crash in FP3 means he will not take part in qualifying and therefore will start at the back of the grid. Even on his best weekend in F1 at Suzuka '13 he was still way behind Hulkenberg on the road.

I'd honestly rather have Chilton than Gutierrez, same chance of points but at least I wouldn't have any repair bills.
 
Gutierrez has a seat the same way Maldo does. It's sucks that he's taking a ride from someone with more talent, but if it weren't for Esteban's Mexican money, Sauber probably wouldn't be able to even run a car for their Number 1 driver.....Adrian Sutil :o

Good god Sauber are in trouble.
 
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