Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Gutierrez could get Ferrari run in Mexico

Ferrari team principal Maurzio Arrivabene says Esteban Gutierrez could run in the SF15-T during FP1 for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Gutierrez joined Ferrari from Sauber over the winter, taking on the role of test and third driver for the team. Despite a disappointing season at Sauber last year, Arrivabene says he sees potential in Gutierrez which needs to be nurtured, with the 23-year-old set to drive the 2015 car during a filming day on Tuesday at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“My personal view on Esteban is the fact that he was launched in Formula One too early,” Arrivabene said. “Too early and most probably - I don’t want to be unrespectful but in a team with a lot of problems. It was not the right team to express his potential. So you have to put together these two teams and give a clear evaluation.

“Esteban has come in because he’s got experience in last year’s car. It’s a new generation of car so for us it is good for a test driver and the work on the simulator. I have to say that this is the right way to grow a young driver, not to take him in to a situation that is really demanding too early. I saw many drivers in 25 years of experience that were burned; maybe they were quite talented.

“Concerning the grand prix of Mexico I think Esteban is going to be the star there. Maybe we can give him a chance to do some laps on Friday. I’m not sure because it depends on how we are performing at that time of the season, but why not? For sure Esteban is going to do a filming day and is going to run here in Barcelona.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.