Sauber Standing Behind Esteban Gutierrez

Esteban Gutierrez has struggled slightly at the beginning of his first season in Formula 1, but the SauberSauberSwitzerland, 1970 > present21 models
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team expect that he will improve during the season. Gutierrez came to the team thanks to money from the Mexican program that also funded Sergio Perez. 

"You have to look at so many aspects. Of course teams are putting in far more emphasis than they did in the past on the commercial implications a driver can have. They don't only look at what money the driver is bringing along, which we have always done by the way, you look at the talent of the driver. First of all you do look at the performance potential, then you look at the commercial potential. That can either be that he brings his partner along or how marketable he is," said Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn. 

Kaltenborn says that as Gutierrez improves he will lose the stigma of being a pay driver. 

Gutierrez replaced Kamui Kobayashi this season after Kobayashi was unable to find enough sponsorship to continue racing for the team and will race for the AF Corse FerrariFerrari 458 Italia GTCItaly, 2011 > present5 photos
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GTE-Pro team this season in the World Endurance Championship. Gutierrez was Sauber's reserve driver for the 2012 season.

In the first two races of last season, Kobayshi finished sixth at the Australian Grand Prix and retired from the Malaysian Grand Prix with brake problems. Gutierrez finished 13th in Australia and 12th in Malaysia this season.

Source: Autosport