Esteban Gutiérrez completes the Sauber F1 Team driver line-up for 2014

Mad announcement at 2am UK time! 

Esteban Gutiérrez completes the Sauber F1 Team driver line-up for 2014 @EstebanGtz http://tinyurl.com/EG2014en  pic.twitter.com/j68wKweEAg

Sergey Sirotkin becomes test driver for the Sauber F1 Team

Sauber F1 Team and @Telmex continue their partnership

good. Esteban showed visible improvement towards the end of the season compared to Hulkenberg.

.... also he has a huge neck   and i wouldn't miss TEd's misadventure as to how thick it is on skyF1 for anything. 

One thing is for sure: EJ knows his sh*t

Only one announcement remains and the prophecy is fulfilled

Good for him. I'd hate to see a pay driver robbing the seat of... another pay driver...

They're all crap, I just hope Sauber isn't going for their plan B with this one. Financially speaking.

One thing is for sure: EJ knows his sh*t

Only one announcement remains and the prophecy is fulfilled

Not really. He said that Felix da Costa was going to Toro Rosso.

Edited by Morbus, 21 December 2013 - 04:08.

That partnership with Telmex is also big. Means that potentially Gutierrez is very locked into that seat beyond this year. Sirotkin looked quick, but he is still needing laps. He is where the likes of Vettel and Alonso where at his age, so while young, could use some more experience. 

Mad announcement at 2am UK time! 

 

 

Perfect timing for Mexico. The world doesn't revolve around the UK. 

Yay!  Good going.  I was hoping he'd get the seat! 

I saw this at Mexico time and i was drunk so if it was UK time would have probably been better.

One thing is for sure: EJ knows his sh*t

Only one announcement remains and the prophecy is fulfilled

And then he gains entry to heaven... and saves us all from his ramblings forever more.

Hmmm not sure how I feel about this... he does have Telmex backing him and didn't do much wrong, but he was so woefully inept against Hulkenberg last season and hasn't really impressed since F3...

With Sutil on board as well, I don't think Sauber will be scoring that many points this season unless they really produce a rocket, which considering their financial problems last season may have affected development of the coming season's car I don't hold out much hope for.

Edited by DanardiF1, 21 December 2013 - 07:40.

Mad announcement at 2am UK time! 

Perfect timing for Mexico. The world doesn't revolve around the UK. 

Congratulations Esteban.  It showed great talent to have your manager give Carlos Slim a call and ask for an extra twenty mil.  Not everyone has that ability, e.g. really good drivers who rely on their talent rather than their rich mates.

Hmmm not sure how I feel about this... he does have Telmex backing him and didn't do much wrong, but he was so woefully inept against Hulkenberg last season and hasn't really impressed since F3...

 

With Sutil on board as well, I don't think Sauber will be scoring that many points this season unless they really produce a rocket, which considering their financial problems last season may have affected development of the coming season's car I don't hold out much hope for.

Hulkenberg is a seasoned driver and it was Gutierrez' first year, I think he deserves a break.  He really turned it up a notch at the end of the season. 

That partnership with Telmex is also big. Means that potentially Gutierrez is very locked into that seat beyond this year. Sirotkin looked quick, but he is still needing laps. He is where the likes of Vettel and Alonso where at his age, so while young, could use some more experience. 

As if they would or could use Sirotkin as a test driver. He has the same fate as Frijns with Sauber, only he paid for it.

Hulkenberg is a seasoned driver and it was Gutierrez' first year, I think he deserves a break.  He really turned it up a notch at the end of the season. 

But still only scored points once. Hulkenberg may be a bigger test than most, but you'd think that with how the Sauber improved in the latter half of the season he'd score points at more than just one race?

Much better than Sitotkin getting the seat, I am not sure how much I like or dislike him getting the chance as he did seem quite underwhelming against Hulkenberg. This may be Hulkenberg simply being at an other level talent wise, or that Gutierrez is not where he should be to compte in F1. Sutil's shortcomings none withstanding 2014 show Gutierrez at least at Sutil's level, actually better or most likely worse.

And the spectre of Sirotikin on the grid remain for 2015.

Why am I not surprised people already in this thread palming him off as a "Pay driver". He's had a career that was always going to end up in F1, he's been competitive in everything hes competed in. We need to give rookies a couple of seasons to really gauge how good they are and I for one am glad that he and Bottas are sticking around for another season.

Gutierrez seemed to get better in the last races and is very young - let's see what he can do.

Esteban showed visible improvement towards the end of the season compared to Hulkenberg.

Not really. That was probably an improvement of the car what some people see as an improvement of Gutierrez.

Esteban was the best compared to Hulk between Spain and Belgium, where he finished practically all races withing 10-15 secs to Nico. In the end of the season, the gap between them has widened a bit, Esteban was a bit more inconsistent when the car became more competitive.
 

For me, he was certainly more impressive mid-season, when he was massively underrated and overinsulted, than at the end of the season, when some people came to the conclusion he is not that bad, but actually, he was not as good as in previous races.

I still think he is more talented than Van der Garde or Leimer (beat them in GP2 despite inferior experience), so I'm happy some people's wish (maybe not that visible on this board, but it's a popular wish in some other places) that he would lose that seat for one of these two didn't come true.

Sutil definetely has much to lose in this battle, though, and if he is unable to beat Gutierrez, that may end his F1 career.

Why am I not surprised people already in this thread palming him off as a "Pay driver". He's had a career that was always going to end up in F1, he's been competitive in everything hes competed in. We need to give rookies a couple of seasons to really gauge how good they are and I for one am glad that he and Bottas are sticking around for another season.

His career has been decent, rather than spectacular, and buoyed up by formulae whose alumni are not exactly top drawer.  His results are roughly equivalent to those of someone like Christian Vietoris or Dani Clos, who are not seen as obvious F1 candidates, and not as good as someone like James Calado, who seems to be about as close to a full-time F1 drive as me.  That's not forgetting those lost to F1 who showed up much better, like, say Vitaly Petrov.
 

He was improving, but still a fair bit slower than Hulkenberg.  He earns his chance by keeping Sauber afloat, not through his driving or results.

With Sutil on board as well, I don't think Sauber will be scoring that many points this season unless they really produce a rocket, which considering their financial problems last season may have affected development of the coming season's car I don't hold out much hope for.

In a decent reliable car with no bad luck, Sutil is good for a good 40 points. You can expect Gutierrez to improve on last year and score a good 20 points as well, making 60 points for Sauber a good possibility. Enough points for a midfield team.

Looking at the results and points-percentages, it looks like Gutierrez had even a worse debut season than Petrov compared to Kubica in 2010. Certainly not better though it seems he made fewer mistakes than Petrov.

Is Sutil-Gutierrez going to be like Petrov-Heidfeld in 2011 with the Mexican giving a surprisingly good run for the money of the experienced German? Currently on paper it seems Sutil should comfortably come out on top. But I am not sure any more, Sauber will be a new team to Sutil and 2013 indicated he might have peaked.

I have a feeling Sauber will slip next year, hopefully i'm wrong but this has to be one of the worst line-up for them. I really hope for Gutierrez will improve, atleast his teammate isn't as good as Hulkenberg. But apart from that I think the will struggle to build a decent car, all because of the money issiues this year.

Sutil and Gutierrez?

Hardly the most exciting line up in the world.

I have a feeling Sauber will slip next year, hopefully i'm wrong but this has to be one of the worst line-up for them. I really hope for Gutierrez will improve, atleast his teammate isn't as good as Hulkenberg. But apart from that I think the will struggle to build a decent car, all because of the money issiues this year.

This could well be a transitional line-up for Sauber and we could see completely new drivers in 2015. Like 2011 was a transition phase for Lotus/Renault. However, in 2015 one of those main drivers could well be Sirotkin though.

I'm glad he is getting a second year. Rookies get a pretty raw deal these days, so having him and Bottas for a second season is nice.
 

Am inclined to agree; he was getting better rather than worse, so one more crack isn't unreasonable.

I think he deserves another chance more than Perez actually, because he is showing progress and acknowledging he should keep improving.

I'm happy for him, he deserves another year at least.

Sink or swim for him next season, I have a feeling it will be the former.

.... also he has a huge neck   and i wouldn't miss TEd's misadventure as to how thick it is on skyF1 for anything. 

Thick neck or small head, ponders Ted. 

(From about 4:50)

I love Ted's twilight strolls; it's Sky's best contribution

The only thing Gutierrez has managed to do so far is to make Hulkenberg look like a superstar.

The only thing Gutierrez has managed to do so far is to make Hulkenberg look like a superstar.

He was soundly beaten by Hulkenberg, but considering his age and the testing ban things may change a lot in the second year.

LOL,

The Sauber car before and after Perez arrived:

Not the worst choice, there is a reasonable chance he was made to look worse than he was by Hulky.

He joins a list of drivers like Pic, Gvdg and Kobayshi who I have no objection to being on the grid, but would not moan if they are not. Still, I think Di Resta deserves a seat on merit, whether his attitude has ruined that opportunity is another question.

Still could have been Chilton, and that would have narked me.

Congratulations Esteban.  It showed great talent to have your manager give Carlos Slim a call and ask for an extra twenty mil.  Not everyone has that ability, e.g. really good drivers who rely on their talent rather than their rich mates.

your same old s… clever and very insightfull

I can't work out if that's a compliment or a diss.

Meh. He seems fast on occasion, but quite a bit of a choker. If he gets over that in 2014, he'll be decent.

I reckon he'll be gone after he Sutil also soundly beats him throughout the year, but hey.

Edited by coppilcus, 29 December 2013 - 19:37.

GUT did improve as the season went on and it makes sense for Sauber to give him another season given he has been with them for some time and ok, he appears to bring some money.