Esteban Gutierrez continues his learning at Ferrari
If he is no longer a main driver in F1, Esteban Gutierrez is now the third driver at Ferrari. This allows him to continue his learning with one goal: to return to F1 as quickly as possible.
After two seasons as a starter with Sauber, the young Mexican found himself forced to seek a fallback solution when the Swiss team brought in Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.
But he managed to bounce back within the Scuderia, which brought him in as a reserve driver. This necessarily changed his view of F1, moving from a private team to the most famous Formula 1 team: « It makes a big difference. Being at Ferrari is very demanding. There are a lot of experienced people, superb facilities. »
The facilities at Maranello obviously meet the success requirements set by the team. Esteban Gutierrez can therefore also benefit: “It’s one of the main advantages I have. I spend a lot of time in Maranello. I can go to the simulator once or twice a week, there’s the gym, my physical trainer is also there. I have an office there. Having everything in the same place is great for the state of mind, for preparation.”
As a reserve driver, he is also able to be present at all the season’s races. He is thus very close to two world champions, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen: « I can attend all the meetings with the engineers and the drivers. I therefore have access to all the data. I also have the time to analyze the trajectories that other drivers take, and I can discuss it with Sebastian and Kimi if I see that they could gain an advantage from it. »
The division of roles with Jean-Eric Vergne, the other test driver for Scuderia, is quite clear: if the Mexican is present at the Grand Prix, the Frenchman does a lot more simulator work, especially during race weekends, to directly test possible developments in a very short period of time.
The question of his future is obviously raised, especially since he is one of the obvious candidates to join the future American team, Haas, which has a privileged technical partnership with Scuderia: « It’s very flattering to be a possible candidate, but at the moment, I am fully invested at Ferrari. Ferrari is supporting me a lot to get back into racing. So we’ll see how it goes. »
F1 clearly remains his priority and he is not yet turning to other disciplines, such as endurance or Formula E: « F1 is my passion. I built this project to be at the top. So if it’s not the top, I might consider a radical change in my life. But we’re not there yet. »
From our special correspondent in Spa-Francorchamps
