Esteban Gutierrez believes the outcome of the Japanese Grand Prix was not what his Haas F1 Team wanted.
The Mexican started on the grid in tenth, with team-mate Romain Grosjean ahead of him in seventh, the best collective starting position for the American-led team this season. In the opening stages of the Grand Prix at the Suzuka International Racing Course, Gutierrez was able to hold his position.
Fifteen laps later, Gutierrez was positioned in twentieth. A spin on lap twenty when the Scuderia Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr attempted a block, Gutierrez was unable to climb back up the grid with damage on the front wing, and ultimately this was the position Gutierrez had to settle for.
Gutierrez is disappointed with this finish after a good qualifying, from here he believes Haas need to keep pushing and keep a good rhythm, as the next Grand Prix is their home race in Texas.
“Everything started pretty good,” said Gutierrez. “We’ve been working a lot on getting the best out of our start and today that proved to be better.
“On the first stint, things were going well. We were managing the gap, pushing to get higher up to the front of the grid. I then came into the pits and I ended back out behind a lot of traffic, and that was it. I was trying to push forward, trying to overtake, and then I had an incident with Carlos (Sainz Jr.).
“He braked a bit early, closing the door, and I had nowhere to go as I was preparing the corner to overtake him on the straight. After that, I had some damage on the front wing which wasn’t ideal.
“Unfortunately, this is how the race went. It was not what we wanted, but now we need to keep pushing and keep a good rhythm and really put in a good performance as we head to our home race in Texas.”
