Esteban Gutierrez has joined the Scuderia Ferrari outfit as their official test and reserve driver for the 2015 Formula 1 season, and will work with the team to aid the development of their car in the teams’ simulator.
Having left the Sauber F1 Team after two seasons, Gutierrez had been confident about retaining links to Formula 1, and the move to Ferrari enables the Mexican to stay in the thoughts of team owners looking for drivers in the future.
Talking about his move to the Scuderia, Gutierrez was obviously delighted to have signed with the legendary Italian outfit, and is looking forward to assisting the team to achieve their targets.
“It is an honour to become part of the Scuderia Ferrari family, a Team with such an exceptional history,” said Gutierrez. “It is for me the beginning of a new path for my future and I’m going to do my utmost to contribute to the achievement of the targets set by the Scuderia.
“I want to thank everybody for their belief in my potential; this will bring a great opportunity for me to develop further and get to the top in the near future. With all my passion and dedication, I’m now looking forward to the start of this new venture.”
Recently appointed Team Principal and Director General of Ferrari Maurizio Arrivabene was happy to announce Gutierrez as the support driver to Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, and believes he will be an asset to the team.
“While confirming our full confidence in a formidable race driver pairing, made up of four times World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, a past champion with Ferrari, I am pleased to welcome Esteban Gutierrez,” insisted Arrivabene. “We are pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to Esteban who, although young, has plenty of experience relating to the new generation of Formula 1 cars.
“I am sure that, with his experience, he will make an important contribution to the development work of the team in the simulator. Welcoming Esteban also means opening the gates of Ferrari to a driver from Mexico, a country where the Scuderia still has a lot of fans, just as was the case fifty years ago in the days of the Rodriguez brothers.”
Gutierrez has raced in 38 Grand Prix having debuted in the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, and scored points on one occasion – a seventh place in the Japanese Grand Prix of 2013. He and his team-mate Adrian Sutil both failed to score points in 2014, meaning Sauber endured their first pointless season in the teams history.
