Image courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari
Esteban Gutierrez is hopeful that he can provide a helping hand Ferrari as they bid to restore their competitiveness at the top.
Gutierrez sought refuge at the Italian marque as a test and reserve driver after being ousted by Sauber at the back end of last season. Both Ferrari-powered teams ensured historically painful campaigns of their own, with Sauber failing to score a point in over two decades while Ferrari mustered only two podiums throughout the year and a first winless season since 1994.
The Mexican spent his first day at the team’s factory at Maranello having a seat fitting as well as meeting those a part of the Ferrari camp and hopes he can make good on his two year stint and experience with the new hybrid technology.
“I worked with Sauber for the past few years; knowing the engine and how it developed from 2013 into 2014 with the new hybrid system was pretty important,” Gutierrez said in an interview on the team’s official website.
“That experience I will take with me to try and complement the people here [at Maranello], to give my perspective [and] to learn a lot with the experience I have.”
He also said that having two world champions in Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen to look up to will serve as a representative benchmark for him to improve.
“It’s a great opportunity as I can have a great reference, [looking at] the way of working between Sebastian and Kimi,”
“They both have a lot of experience in top teams so I’m really looking forward to that experience as I’m going to learn a lot, be close to them and take myself to the next step.”
