A Mexican driver who won the inaugural GP3 title, scored his only Formula One points in Japan and later worked on Mercedes simulators.
Gutierrez, born in 1991, is a Mexican former driver who raced in Formula One between 2013 and 2016. He later became a Mercedes brand ambassador and founded EDASI Drive, a Latin American merchandise business that holds a Formula One licence.
From 2013 to 2016 Mexico's Esteban Gutierrez raced in Formula One for Sauber and Haas. He had already won the Formula BMW Europe title in 2008 and the inaugural GP3 Series in 2010. This profile follows his path from karting in Monterrey to his later work as a Mercedes ambassador.
Who is Esteban Gutierrez?
Esteban Gutierrez is a Mexican former racing driver and businessman who was born on 5 August 1991 in Monterrey. He raced in Formula One from 2013 to 2016 and has since worked as a reserve driver, a simulator driver and a brand ambassador for Mercedes.
Gutierrez is the second of four brothers and has one sister. His younger brother, Jose Gutierrez, is also a racing driver, and Gutierrez now lives in London.
Alongside his racing career he founded EDASI Drive, which holds the licence to distribute Formula One merchandise across Latin America.
Two junior titles, one Formula One points finish in Japan in 2013, and a Formula One career that ended at Haas in 2016.
How did Gutierrez start in karting?
Gutierrez began karting in 2004 in the Mexican Rotax Max Challenge. In 2005 he took third place at the Grand Nationals in South Bend, Indiana, and in 2006 he won all five races of the Camkart Challenge Mexico.
The 2005 season also took him to the World Finals in Malaysia, where he finished 22nd after mechanical problems. The following year he finished fourth in the Mexican Grand Nationals at Zacatecas, Mexico.
How did Gutierrez win the Formula BMW Europe title?
Gutierrez moved into single-seaters in 2007 with Formula BMW USA, finishing second with four wins and earning Rookie of the Year honours. In 2008 he won the Formula BMW Europe championship by 26 points over Marco Wittmann, with seven wins across the season.
His 2007 season finished 87 points behind champion Daniel Morad, and at the 2007 World Final he came 25th, the last of the classified finishers. The 2008 series was the maiden season after the British and German championships merged.
Six of his 2008 wins came in a row, and his final tally was 353 points. At the 2008 World Final in Mexico City he started from pole and finished third, beaten only by Alexander Rossi and Michael Christensen.
Did Gutierrez win the first GP3 title?
Yes. Gutierrez won the inaugural GP3 Series in 2010 with ART Grand Prix, clinching the title with pole position at Monza and the two bonus points that came with it. He scored in ten of the 16 races, with eight podiums and five wins.
Before that he had stepped up to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2009 with ART Grand Prix, finishing ninth overall with 26 points. His two podiums came at Nurburgring and Dijon Prenois.
He also competed in British F3 that year. At Algarve he took a podium and fastest lap while racing against Daniel Ricciardo, who went on to win the title.
How did Gutierrez progress through GP2?
In 2009 he was invited to a GP2 test at Jerez for ART, where he was the third-fastest rookie of the day. He also took part in an end-of-year test at Paul Ricard for Telmex Arden.
In 2011 ART was renamed Lotus ART and he partnered Jules Bianchi. He finished 13th in the drivers' championship, with his first GP2 win coming in a sprint race, and he finished 11th in the GP2 Asia Series that year.
In 2012 he moved to Lotus GP alongside James Calado. He finished third in the championship with 176 points, three wins, four other podiums and five fastest laps, becoming the first GP3 graduate to finish in the top three of GP2.
How did his Formula One testing begin?
Gutierrez got his first run in a BMW Sauber Formula One car in December 2009, a prize for his Formula BMW Europe title. He was named the team's test and reserve driver on 10 September 2010, and he spent that year training alongside the race drivers.
The team had lost its BMW backing for 2010, but Gutierrez joined it as an observer for some race weekends. He trained alongside race drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi.
In November 2010 he joined the young drivers test at Abu Dhabi and set the fourth-fastest time of the day.
On 26 October 2012 he substituted for an unwell Perez in the first free practice session at the Indian Grand Prix. He recorded the 20th fastest time, and Perez returned for the second session.
Why did Gutierrez join Sauber in 2013?
He was promoted to the race team in 2013 and partnered Nico Hulkenberg.
His first race, the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, saw him qualify 18th and finish 13th. At Malaysia he finished 12th after making a pit stop with five laps left, and in Spain he set a fastest lap, becoming the second-youngest driver to do so.
In Japan he started 14th and finished seventh. It was the only points finish of his Formula One career.
What did his Ferrari and Haas roles involve?
In December 2014 Ferrari named Gutierrez its test and reserve driver for 2015, replacing the late Jules Bianchi in that role. In October 2015 he was announced at Haas, where he partnered Romain Grosjean in 2016.
At Haas, his results included 14th in China, where he passed Nico Hulkenberg in the closing laps, and 11th at Monaco, Austria, Germany and Singapore. He finished 12th at Abu Dhabi.
On 11 November 2016 he confirmed on social media that he would leave Haas, which closed his run of races in Formula One.
Formula One career at a glance
| Season | Team | Role | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | BMW Sauber | Test and reserve driver | Fourth-fastest at the Abu Dhabi young drivers test |
| 2013 | Sauber | Race driver | Seventh place in Japan, his only points finish |
| 2014 | Sauber | Race driver | Lost his seat at the end of the season |
| 2015 | Ferrari | Test and reserve driver | Replaced the late Jules Bianchi in the role |
| 2016 | Haas F1 Team | Race driver | 11th at Monaco, Austria, Germany and Singapore |
How did Gutierrez fare in Formula E and IndyCar?
The Formula E move was announced on 10 January 2017, and the Techeetah seat followed on 9 March 2017.
Gutierrez joined Formula E for selected races in the 2016-17 season. He replaced Ma Qing Hua at Techeetah from the fourth round, and he finished the season 22nd overall with five points from three races.
He raced at the Mexico City, Monaco and Paris ePrix, and he finished within the top ten twice.
In 2017 he also stood in for the injured Sebastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing. He took part in seven IndyCar events, with a best finish of 13th at Iowa Speedway.
What did the Mercedes and esports years involve?
Gutierrez joined Mercedes AMG as a simulator driver on 5 July 2018. He was named a reserve driver for Formula One and Formula E, and he supported race drivers Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell through the team's factory simulator work.
Early in 2020 his super licence eligibility had lapsed, a requirement that Mercedes had overlooked. That made him ineligible to be a Formula One reserve, and he continued with the team as a brand and business ambassador in 2021.
During the 2020 lockdown he took part in esports events, including an F1 esports series and The Race All Stars. A technical glitch ended his title hopes in the final round of one of them.
What is Gutierrez doing now?
Gutierrez has been a Mercedes brand ambassador in Formula One since 2024. He also founded EDASI Drive, the licensed Formula One merchandise distributor for Latin America, and he streams his racing and esports on Twitch and Discord.
His career has moved from the karting circuits of Monterrey to paddock and simulator work in Formula One. His younger brother, Jose Gutierrez, has also raced, so the family's motorsport connection continues.
Legacy
Gutierrez is remembered for a run of junior titles, above all the 2008 Formula BMW Europe championship and the 2010 GP3 Series. His 2012 GP2 result also stands as a marker for the series, since it was the first such finish by a GP3 graduate.
His Formula One record is short, with one points finish in Japan in 2013.
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