Esteban Gutiérrez

Esteban Gutiérrez
	Gutiérrez at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix
Born	5 August 1991; Monterrey, Mexico
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Mexican
Active years	2013–2014, 2016
Teams	Sauber, Haas
Car number	21
Entries	59 (59 starts)
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	6
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First entry	2013 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2016 position	21st (0 pts)
IndyCar Series career
	7 races run over 1 year
Team(s)	No. 18 (Dale Coyne Racing)
First race	2017 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix (Belle Isle)
Last race	2017 ABC Supply 500 (Pocono)
Formula E career
Debut season	2016–17
Car number	33
Former teams	Techeetah
Starts	3
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	22nd in 2016–17
Finished last season	22nd
Previous series
2011–2012; 2011; 2010; 2009–2010; 2009–2010; 2008; 2007	GP2 Series; GP2 Asia Series; GP3 Series; Formula 3 Euro Series; British F3; Formula BMW Europe; Formula BMW USA
Championship titles
2010; 2008	GP3 Series; Formula BMW Europe
Awards
2012; 2007	Pirelli Trophy for Tyre Management; FBMW USA Rookie/Year

Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [esˈteβan maˈnwel ɣuˈtjeres ɣuˈtjeres]; born 5 August 1991) is a Mexican racing driver currently representing Mercedes in Formula One, Formula E and esports.[2]

Previously from 2013 to 2014, Gutiérrez drove for the Sauber Formula One team[3] but lost his drive at the end of the 2014 season. He then signed with Ferrari as their test and reserve driver for 2015.[4] Gutiérrez drove for the Haas F1 Team for the 2016 Formula One season.[5]

In 2008, Gutiérrez won the Formula BMW Europe championship title,[6] becoming the youngest Mexican driver to win an International Championship at 17 years old. He also won the inaugural GP3 season in 2010. With the Lotus GP team in 2012, he became the first GP3 graduate to finish in the top three of the GP2 parent series.

Gutiérrez has also raced in Formula E and the IndyCar Series.

Personal life

Gutiérrez was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, the second of four brothers and one sister. He currently lives in London with his wife, Mónica Casán, who he married in 2017.

Early career

Karting

Gutiérrez started his career in 2004 in the Mexican Rotax Max Challenge when he raced in the last 3 events of the season. In 2005, he again competed in the Mexican Rotax Max Challenge, and also raced in the Grand Nationals in South Bend, Indiana, where he finished third, which earned him a place at the World Finals in Malaysia, where he finished 22nd due to mechanical problems.

In 2006, Esteban won all 5 races in the Camkart Challenge Mexico, and again he raced in the Mexican Rotax Max Challenge. He also finished 4th in the Mexican Grand Nationals in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Formula BMW Series

2007–2008

In 2007, Gutiérrez made the step up into the single-seater ranks, competing in the Formula BMW USA series. He finished second overall in the championship, with 4 wins, 8 podiums, 9 pole positions and 3 fastest laps, earning him Rookie of the Year honours.[7] Despite finishing second, Gutiérrez finished some 87 points behind runaway champion Daniel Morad. Gutiérrez raced at the Formula BMW World Final in 2007, eventually finishing last of the classified finishers in 25th.[8]

Gutiérrez moved across to Europe to compete in the 2008 Formula BMW Europe championship, which was the championship's maiden season after the merging of the British and German series. He won the championship by 26 points from his closest rival Marco Wittmann, taking 7 wins, 6 of which consecutively, and appearing on the podium another 5 times. Out of the seasons 16 races, he only finished outside the points twice in the whole season and retired once overall, giving him a final score of 353 points.

In his final FBMW race, Gutiérrez qualified on pole and finished third at the 2008 World Final in Mexico City, beaten only by the current FBMW Americas champion at the time Alexander Rossi and Michael Christensen.[9]

Gutiérrez winning the 2008 FBMW Europe championship

Formula 3 Euro Series

For 2009, Gutiérrez moved up to the Formula 3 Euro Series with a seat at reigning champions ART Grand Prix alongside Jules Bianchi, Valtteri Bottas and Adrien Tambay. He finished ninth overall in the championship, taking two podiums at the Nürburgring and Dijon Prenois.[10]

He ended the season with 26 points altogether. He also competed in two rounds of the British Formula 3 season, taking a podium and fastest lap at the Algarve International Circuit, racing against eventual champion Daniel Ricciardo.[11]

GP3 Series

2010 saw Gutiérrez move to the GP3 Series, competing for ART Grand Prix. He joined Pedro Nunes and Alexander Rossi at the team.[12] Gutiérrez won the inaugural season with two races to spare by taking pole position, and the resultant two bonus points that came with it, for the final race weekend in Monza.[13] Gutiérrez dominated the whole season as he scored 10 times out of the 16 races, with 8 podium finishes and 5 wins.[14]

GP2 Series

2009

Picture taken during the DTM race weekend at the Hockenheimring

Gutiérrez was invited to the GP2 test in Jerez, Spain for the 2009 season on 6 October for ART Grand Prix, his first time in a GP2 car. During the day he improved on his times finishing with a time just over half a second slower than the fastest time set by Jules Bianchi, who was also driving for ART. He was also recognised as the third fastest rookie of the day.[15] Gutiérrez again participated in another test session for GP2 at the end of year test in Paul Ricard, France for Telmex Arden International.[16]

2010

At the end of 2010, after winning the Inaugural GP3 season with ART, the GP2 sister team signed him for a full drive for the 2011 season.[17]

2011

ART Grand Prix was renamed Lotus ART for the 2011. Gutierrez was paired with Jules Bianchi for both the GP2 series and GP2 Asia series.[18] He finished eleventh in the 2011 GP2 Asia series after taking a single 4th-place finish at the Imola sprint race.

In the main series, he finished 13th in the drivers' championship after he scored his first points with a 7th-place finish in the Valencia feature race. He followed this up with his first GP2 series victory at the sprint race as well as setting his first fastest lap[19] scoring twice more that season including a 2nd-place finish in the sprint race at Hungary.

2012

He remained with Lotus ART for the 2012 season, with the team being renamed Lotus GP after the increased sponsorship from Lotus, and was partnered with James Calado.[20]

Gutiérrez follows teammate James Calado in 1st place out of the first corner at the 2012 Malaysian Sprint race.

His third place in the championship marked him the first GP3 graduate to finish in the top 3 of the GP2 series, with 176 points, 3 wins, 4 other separate podiums and 5 fastest laps, equalling Valsecchi's total for the year for most fastest laps of the season.[21]

Formula One

Gutiérrez first tested a BMW Sauber Formula One car in December 2009 as part of his prize for winning the Formula BMW Europe championship.[22] Despite the team losing its BMW backing for 2010, he joined it as an observer for some race weekends and was placed on the same training programme as race drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi.[23] Later in the season, he was officially named as the team's test and reserve driver on 10 September.[24][25] On 16 November 2010 he took part in the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi setting the 4th fastest time of the day, just over six-tenths of a second off the qualifying time set by Kamui Kobayashi.[26]

He almost had his debut race for Sauber at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix when race driver Sergio Pérez was still unwell from a crash at the previous race in Monaco.[27] As Gutiérrez was the test and reserve driver for the team, he would have been selected to race instead. However, due to the timing of the event and a driver being needed by the end of free practice two, and the fact that he was in Mexico at the time, Gutiérrez was unable to take over the car and instead the team opted to use former race driver and McLaren test driver at the time Pedro de la Rosa,[28] much to the despair of Gutiérrez who was said to be 'ready' to race.[29]

On 28 July 2011, it was announced that Gutiérrez would remain as Sauber's reserve driver into the 2012 season.[30] Gutiérrez again took part for the team at the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi on 19 November, this time setting 5th fastest lap on Thursday and 7th fastest overall, which was just over one second down on fellow Mexican Sergio Pérez's fastest time in qualifying.[31]

On 26 October 2012, Gutiérrez participated in the first free practice session at the Indian Grand Prix, substituting for an unwell Pérez. He ultimately recorded the 20th fastest time in the session, before Pérez was able to return to the car for the second session.[32]

Sauber (2013–2014)

Gutiérrez in the Sauber C32 during winter tests at Jerez, in 2013

On 23 November 2012, it was announced that Gutiérrez would remain with Sauber, but was to be promoted to the race team alongside Nico Hülkenberg, who would be joining the team from Force India.[3] His first outing for the team was the Australian Grand Prix, where he qualified in 18th position after crashing during the first qualifying session which was eventually red flagged due to heavy rain. After a solid drive he eventually finished the race thirteenth, the best position of all of the 2013 rookies.[33] In Malaysia, Gutiérrez made it through into Q2 and qualified 14th, and ran an uneventful race to finish in twelfth,[34] after he was forced to pit with five laps remaining.

In China, he only managed to qualify 18th despite his teammate getting through to Q3. His race was cut short on lap 4 when he missed his braking point on the back-straight and pummelled into the back of Adrian Sutil, which resulted in his first retirement of the season. In Bahrain, he once again qualified down in 18th, and started the race last on the grid after receiving a 5 place grid penalty after his crash in China. After spending the race battling with quickly degrading tyres, he finished where he started, albeit, a lap down from the leaders.

Gutiérrez during FP1 in Malaysia

Spain was a turning point in Gutiérrez's short Formula One career. After getting through to Q2 for only the second time, he qualified in 16th where all the cars from 2nd to him were between a second of each other. Before the race it was found he had impeded Kimi Räikkönen in qualifying and thus he dropped 3 places on the grid to 19th. He had a very good race compared to previous results; he led the race for a couple of laps after the first stint becoming the 12th different driver in 2013 to do so, and had a close battle midway through the race with Jenson Button, but eventually after a late pit-stop and a charge through the field, he failed to pass Daniel Ricciardo over the last couple of laps, finishing three-tenths behind the last point scoring position. He also achieved his first fastest lap of the race,[35] putting him second in the record books for 'Youngest Driver to Set a Fastest Lap' after Nico Rosberg.

Gutiérrez at the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix

Gutiérrez achieved his first points-scoring finish at the Japanese Grand Prix; having started fourteenth on the grid, Gutiérrez made his way up the order and eventually finished the race in seventh place, holding off Nico Rosberg in the closing stages.[36][37] On 21 December 2013, it was confirmed that Gutiérrez would continue with Sauber in 2014.

Having failed to score a single point during the 2014 season, on 15 December 2014, it was announced that Gutiérrez had signed for Ferrari as test and reserve driver for 2015.[4]

Ferrari (2015)

Following his dismissal from Sauber in favour of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, it was announced that Gutiérrez would serve as reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari, in place of the late Jules Bianchi.

Haas F1 (2016)

Gutiérrez driving for Haas at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix

On 31 October 2015, at the Mexican Grand Prix, it was announced that Gutiérrez would return to racing in the sport alongside Romain Grosjean at Haas F1 Team.

Gutiérrez, in his first race for Haas at the Australian Grand Prix made contact with Fernando Alonso, flipping the McLaren driver and sending him flying into the barrier. The incident was concluded as a racing incident. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Gutiérrez started in 13th and was running in 8th by the end of the first lap. He then retired shortly afterwards due to brake failure. Gutiérrez finished 14th at the Chinese Grand Prix, passing Nico Hülkenberg in the closing laps. At the Russian Grand Prix, Gutiérrez made contact with Hülkenberg, forcing him to pit for a new front wing. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Gutiérrez was in 8th until he was passed by Felipe Massa, Jenson Button and Daniil Kvyat in the closing laps, dropping him to 11th. Gutiérrez finished 11th at the Monaco Grand Prix, but crossed the line 12th, after being pushed out the way by Valtteri Bottas on the final lap. Bottas was given a five-second time penalty, promoting Gutiérrez back to 11th. At the European Grand Prix, Gutiérrez made contact with Hülkenberg on the first lap, damaging his front wing. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Gutiérrez finished 11th after Sergio Pérez had a brake failure and crashed out on the final lap. On the final lap, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg made contact. Rosberg lost his front wing and Pascal Wehrlein and Gutiérrez passed him. Gutiérrez attempted to find a way past Wehrlein for 10th, but Wehrlein just beat him to the chequered flag.

At the British Grand Prix, Gutiérrez fell behind the two Renaults of Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer, but passed them both in the closing laps. The Renaults then retired a few laps later. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton expressed his thoughts towards Gutiérrez after Gutiérrez failed to let him pass after being shown blue flags. Gutiérrez was given a five-second time penalty, demoting him to 13th, just ahead of teammate Grosjean. Gutiérrez felt Hamilton's actions were not acceptable, and that every driver should respect one another. At the German Grand Prix, Gutiérrez started 11th but fell down to 17th by the end of the first lap. He made a two-stop strategy work, and finished 11th again, behind Pérez. During the race, Daniel Ricciardo expressed his thoughts on Gutiérrez not moving out of the way when being shown blue flags. At the Belgian Grand Prix, Gutiérrez was given a 5-place grid penalty for impeding Pascal Wehrlein during free practice 3. He started 18th, and by lap 8, he was inside the top 10. However, when Magnussen crashed out at Eau Rouge, it brought out a safety car. Gutiérrez pitted and was stacked behind Grosjean just before a red flag and lost out to the top 10. Gutiérrez's finishes outside the top ten continued, with a 13th place at the Italian Grand Prix after qualifying in 10th, and another 11th place at the Singapore Grand Prix. It was then followed up by a dismal Malaysian Grand Prix, where a puncture on lap 1 dropped him down to 20th and a mechanical failure on the wheel forced him into retirement.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Gutiérrez qualified 10th but finished 20th after spinning in the race and failing to pass Carlos Sainz. His woes continued in the United States Grand Prix with another DNF, and a very low 19th place in Mexican Grand Prix due to braking failures. One more DNF saw no points at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and a 12th place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

On 11 November 2016, Gutiérrez confirmed via social Media he would be leaving Haas F1 Team. His best result was 11th place where he finished 5 times in total, scoring no points throughout the season. Magnussen was confirmed as his replacement, departing Renault.

Reserve and development driver for Mercedes (2018–present)

On 5 July 2018, Gutiérrez joined Mercedes AMG as a simulator driver from the beginning of the season.[38] He has since been named as a reserve driver in Formula 1 and Formula E. [39] Gutierrez frequently visits the team’s factory to carry out simulator work in preparation for F1 races and development of its car, supporting race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

In 2020, with the postponement and cancellation of races due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gutierrez represented Mercedes in the virtual world taking part in several high profile esports events.[40]

Formula E

On 10 January 2017, Gutiérrez announced that he would be joining Formula E, for selected races during the 2016–17 season. On 9 March 2017, it was announced Gutiérrez would replace Ma Qing Hua at Techeetah, from the fourth round onwards.[41][42] He competed at the Mexico City, Monaco and Paris ePrix and finished within the top 10 twice. He achieved a season finish of 22^nd with the five points he gained from his three races.[43]

IndyCar

On 1 June 2017, it was announced that Gutiérrez would be joining the IndyCar Series for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear Corporation, standing in for the injured Sébastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing.[44] Gutiérrez participated in seven events.

Esports

During the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, relatively new to esports, Gutiérrez began participating in a variety of esports events, taking multiple wins and podium finishes.

He competed in the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix Series and The Race All Stars, where he was fighting for the title until a technical glitch took him out of contention in the final round.[45][46] Since the culmination of these events, Gutierrez has continued streaming on his dedicated channel on Twitch and Discord.

Racing record