Sauber confirmed early on Saturday morning that Esteban Gutierrez will retain his seat for 2014.
The Mexican driver had a steady and progressive debut season with the team last year and will be looking to continue the improvements made towards the end of 2013.
He will partner Adrian Sutil, who makes the switch to Sauber after six seasons racing for Force India, and they will both be joined by Sergey Sirotkin. The young Russian was once thought to be taking the second seat, but he will instead take up the reserve role.
However, his appointment as the Swiss team's third driver will surely lead to a full time race drive in 2015. Sirotkin was announced as a Sauber team member earlier in the season, coming as part of an investment deal from Russian investors.
Retaining Gutierrez has also led to the team sparking a new deal with Telmex, who will continue to be a major sponsor for the team.
He said on the news: "I am happy to be able to continue as a driver for the Sauber F1 Team. It was a steep learning curve last season, but by working closely with the team I was able to improve continuously. It will be my fourth year with the team, the second as a racing driver, and I feel comfortable in taking the next step.
"The technical challenges in 2014 will be massive. Therefore it will be even more important to know well the people you are working with. I will do my very best to improve even more and support the team the best way I can."
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn is confident this he will make further improvements next year. "We are pleased Esteban will drive for us in 2014, because we believe he is a talented young racing driver," she said. "Last season he experienced first hand how hard it can be for a rookie to step into Formula One.
"Nevertheless, throughout the season he improved significantly in qualifying as well as in the races and finished the year as the best rookie in the drivers’ championship. Often the results didn’t fully reflect his performances. I am confident Esteban will be able to use his experiences to gain results, and this will be helped by the fact he is very well acquainted with every member of the race team."
Sirotkin raced in the Formula Renault 3.5 series this season and scored two podium finishes. He will continue in the series for a second campaign. "It’s a big chance for me to become the test driver for the Sauber F1 Team," he explained. "I will work hard to improve myself and to extract the maximum out of this opportunity.
"Formula One is very complex, so it is important to get an opportunity like this. My main focus next year, however, will be the World Series by Renault, which is very competitive. This will give me the chance to prepare even better in order to be ready for the next big step."
He has yet to obtain his F1 superlicense but Kaltenborn says Sauber will continue to support him. "Our goal remains to prepare him for a debut in Formula One," she added.
This means that there are now just three seats remaining on the grid: Two at Caterham and one at Marussia.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
He will partner Adrian Sutil, who makes the switch to Sauber after six seasons racing for Force India, and they will both be joined by Sergey Sirotkin. The young Russian was once thought to be taking the second seat, but he will instead take up the reserve role.
However, his appointment as the Swiss team's third driver will surely lead to a full time race drive in 2015. Sirotkin was announced as a Sauber team member earlier in the season, coming as part of an investment deal from Russian investors.
Retaining Gutierrez has also led to the team sparking a new deal with Telmex, who will continue to be a major sponsor for the team.
He said on the news: "I am happy to be able to continue as a driver for the Sauber F1 Team. It was a steep learning curve last season, but by working closely with the team I was able to improve continuously. It will be my fourth year with the team, the second as a racing driver, and I feel comfortable in taking the next step.
"The technical challenges in 2014 will be massive. Therefore it will be even more important to know well the people you are working with. I will do my very best to improve even more and support the team the best way I can."
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn is confident this he will make further improvements next year. "We are pleased Esteban will drive for us in 2014, because we believe he is a talented young racing driver," she said. "Last season he experienced first hand how hard it can be for a rookie to step into Formula One.
"Nevertheless, throughout the season he improved significantly in qualifying as well as in the races and finished the year as the best rookie in the drivers’ championship. Often the results didn’t fully reflect his performances. I am confident Esteban will be able to use his experiences to gain results, and this will be helped by the fact he is very well acquainted with every member of the race team."
 |
| (c) Octane Photographic |
"Formula One is very complex, so it is important to get an opportunity like this. My main focus next year, however, will be the World Series by Renault, which is very competitive. This will give me the chance to prepare even better in order to be ready for the next big step."
He has yet to obtain his F1 superlicense but Kaltenborn says Sauber will continue to support him. "Our goal remains to prepare him for a debut in Formula One," she added.
This means that there are now just three seats remaining on the grid: Two at Caterham and one at Marussia.
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