Sauber problems “unacceptable” – Gutierrez

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

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Esteban Gutierrez says the technical problems which have affected his car this weekend are “unacceptable”.

The Sauber driver was eliminated in Q1 after a fault on his car’s battery pack caused his car to come to a stop. Yesterday his running was disrupted by a fault with his MGU-K.

“It has been an unfortunate weekend so far,” said Gutierrez. “It is very disappointing considering all the technical issues.”

“Under the current circumstances we are very limited on track time,” he explained. “With the mixed conditions it makes it even more challenging, and it is very difficult to get the most out of what we have.”

“It is an unacceptable situation, and we need to change something to sort out all the technical issues. We have to make sure it does not happen again in the next sessions.”

Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said it was “disappointing” that Gutierrez’s that his weekend has been “dominated by problems with the powertrain”.

“This makes it very difficult for him and his crew to find the optimal set-up for the car, because track time is so limited. No doubt he is in a difficult position for the race.”

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

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Image © Sauber

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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10 comments on “Sauber problems “unacceptable” – Gutierrez”

  1. Gutiérrez driving “unacceptable” – Everyone

  2. When you pay this much money to drive, and your car doesn’t work…..we’ll I’d be annoyed too.

    See also: Pastor Maldonado

  3. The man paid his money. Now get his drive corrected.

    I share his anguish :)

    1. @evered7

      I share his anguish :)

      You’re not Pastor Maldonado, by any chance?

      1. @cgturbo Nah! Just another F1 fan who is appalled by this pay driver scenario.

        1. Buts its no worse now than its always been, In fact if anything its better now than it used to be up until the late 90s.

          At least most of the pay drivers today have actually done well, won races & in some cases championships in lower categories, In Maldonado’s case he’s even won an F1 race on merit by beating Alonso in a straight fight.

          The pay drivers from the past had often shown no speed anywhere on there route to F1.

          Guttierez gets a lot of flack, Even before he’d driven an F1 car he was getting it despite having won the GP3 championship & having won races in GP2.
          It was the same with Maldonado, Even before he’d had his 1st F1 race people were going on about how he was unworthy & should never have got the chance despite having again won the GP2 championship (Beating Perez & Bianchi among other top drivers who never got to F1), He kinda proved that wrong when he won a race.

          Looking at the back Ericsson & Chilton may be pay drivers who may well not have the raw talent to have earnt an F1 seat without bringing money, But at least neither are horribly off the pace. I remember some pay drivers from the past who were miles off to the point where it was stupid that they were even allowed to drive.

          1. +1 for some drivers the term “rolling chicane” was almost added to the back of their rear wing, many point drivers were less than gracious when refering to them in public, and lets not forget a couple moved to better teams and surprised us all. I like to mention one paying driver nobody seem to consider when thrashing pay drivers in general; Nicky Lauda. Among other legends.

          2. What they managed to achieve prior to F1 isn’t the problem here. Don’t sound like Paul ‘I beat Vettel’ Di Resta please.

            This is his second year in F1 and Maldonado’s fourth. There isn’t any sign of improvement in both of them. Also I can point out many a mistake that Guti made this year but I don’t think the team criticized him in public.

            If there is a problem with the car, speak internally. Don’t complain to the press. I am sure his mechanics will have a few words to say about the amount of times they have had to repair his car. In Maldonado’s case, build it from scratch.

            Just because there were pay drivers earlier doesn’t make this situation acceptable. F1 needs to find a way for smaller teams to survive without selling their seats to the highest bidder.

  4. I liked hearing the team principle saying something along the lines of: I can’t complain about our drivers if we can’t give them a car that works.

    Is there a direct quote posted somewhere? It was on the SKY pre-qualy coverage.

    1. I think it was after a question about the drivers and the reply basically was we need to focus on our car before worrying about our driver.

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