Sauber Motorsport AG ©
In a statement to the press today, Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez insists he has “several alternatives” to stay on the F1 grid next season following Sauber’s confirmation that Felipe Nasr will partner Marcus Ericsson in 2015.
Gutierrez took to Twitter following the Swiss team’s announcement of Nasr’s arrival on Wednesday night. In his statement to the press, Gutierrez stated the following:-
‘I’d like to thank each and every member of Team Sauber for all the time we worked together. I wish them the best of success.
‘Unfortunately, after long talks and negotiations, we were not able to reach an agreement; at the same time we have and are still working on several alternatives with the intention to remain in Formula One.
‘I deeply thank all my work team, my sponsors and fans for their support throughout my career; we will continue working as a team to find the best way to go.’
Even though Gutierrez has tried his best to negotiate with the Sauber team about remaining with them for next season, these talks haven’t been successful and an agreement wasn’t reached with him. It would seem that there are no hard feelings here and Gutierrez wishes Sauber the best of luck with their future. And for him to publically thank the Sauber team, his fans and sponsor their support in the last two years is great to hear and without their full support, he wouldn’t have been racing in Formula One for the past two years.
But Gutierrez for me has spoken about the situation in the correct manner that shows to me despite his young age how mature he is in the process. Of course he will be disappointed not to be have been retained by Sauber for 2015, but it would seem that he and his management still have options in place to try and remain in Formula One if possible.
But from looking at how the 2015 grid is shaping up, it appears his best chance of securing a race seat depends on the survival of the Caterham and Marussia teams. Although both are currently in administration, it is hoped they can find new buyers and perhaps even return for this season’s final race in Abu Dhabi.
But both teams have lodged entries for next season and Guiterrez will be hoping that he will be considered for one of the available seats in either team if they survive and are racing once again in the sport. Let us not forget that also in Gutierrez’s favour is the re-appearance of Mexico on next year’s calendar for the first time in 23 years and also the sponsorship that he brings to a team too from Telmex and that could prove very handy indeed to a team who might be interested in signing him for next season and beyond.
But all Gutierrez can do is alongside his management look at all the available options within Formula One and ensure that they do their best to secure him a race seat for 2015 if possible or even a development role in another team if that cannot be achieved so that a team can benefit from the two years racing he has acquired in Formula One and also help him develop further as a driver too.
