Adrian Sutil’s chance of scoring the first points of 2014 for the Sauber F1 Team were over before the end of the first lap at Austin after being the innocent victim of an ambitious overtaking manoeuvre from Sergio Perez, while Esteban Gutierrez struggled for pace and ended up a lapped fourteenth.
Hopes were high that Sutil could secure the team’s first points of the year after breaking into the top ten during qualifying, but his race was over before it really begun after crashing out on the opening lap of the United States Grand Prix for the second year in a row at Austin after being the innocent victim of an ambitious overtaking manoeuvre by the Sahara Force India of Perez at turn 15.
“Unfortunately, it was a short race,” reflected a disappointed Sutil. “I had a good start and was in a promising position. Sadly Sergio (Perez) crashed into my car, which was completely needless.
“It is very disappointing that we missed our biggest chance of points because of this move.”
Team-mate Gutierrez was able to see the chequered flag but was outside the points in fourteenth position, and felt it was a challenge to get his tyres to work, especially after the early safety car period after Sutil’s crash.
“It was challenging to get the tyres to work after the safety car period,” insisted Gutierrez. “We lost quite a lot of time on this run. It is tricky when you have to push every lap of the race. Not being able to manage the tyres as other drivers do put us in a critical situation.
“I did my best and fought through the whole race. From now on we have to keep our focus on Brazil and Abu Dhabi, where I believe we will get the chance to score points.”
