Esteban Gutierrez

Silverstone, England – The first GP2 race of the weekend at the Silverstone track started under rain conditions, with a good performance from Esteban Gutierrez, who eventually after the weather changes and other issues that affected his feature race finished 10th .

The rain caused the race to start behind the safety car. Esteban had a good pace under wet track conditions and reached fifth place in the early stages of the race.

Esteban Gutierrez
Lotus ART Team / Car # 6 / Telmex / Multigama / Fastenal / Vector Casa de Bolsa / Interproteccion / DeAcero / Total Health Nutrients / Alpinestars / Bell Helmets

“The start was definitely very positive for us. We fought for the top positions and even climbed up to fifth. We did really well in the rain but eventually the track started to dry up”, explained the Mexican.

When the rain stopped and the track dried up, team Lotus ART decided to change tires, with Esteban finding it difficult to adapt to the new conditions in his first season in the F1 feeder series.

“We decided to make our pit stop to change for slicks but we realized it was a little late because some drivers that were behind us had changed earlier and when we were back on the track they caught us very quickly and it was very difficult to defend a position.

“It was a little difficult and I tried to keep my positions. I made a few little mistakes and that is why I was struggling with the tires under that track condition; the situation was new for me and I learned from it”, he added.

Gutierrez had an incident with British driver Jolyon Palmer who eventually was penalized with Esteban moving up one position in the results after having finished the race in 11th place. He will start tomorrow’s race from 10th on the grid.

“There was a little incident that did not affect us much because we only lost one place and from that moment on I tried to keep my position and that is what we were able to achieve. In general terms it was a good race and we cannot be so hard on ourselves”, said the driver.

Esteban Gutierrez hopes he can use what he has learned today to finish the second Silverstone race in the top ten, as it is expected that the weather conditions continue.

“I think, as we saw today, the weather has been changing and the conditions tomorrow can be very similar and we have to keep that in mind and do the best we can to try and make a clean, flawless race to be able to finish in the top ten.

“My experience in GP2 is very limited and now that I’ve live through these conditions I am more familiar with what has to be done and how to manage the cold tires on a wet track. You have to be very cautious and conservative but that is all a part of my adaptation process”, he remarked.

Gutierrez finished the race in 59 minutes 21.771 seconds, while his teammate, Jules Bianchi, finished first in 58 minutes and 40.010 seconds.

TIMETABLE:

SUNDAY, JUL. 10th
Race 2 - (45 mins)
 03h35 (CT Mexico)
 09h35 (UTC/GMT +0 hrs, London)

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For more information about Esteban Gutierrez, the Lotus ART Team, the GP2 Series, or his sponsors Multigama, Telmex, Fastenal, Vector Casa de Bolsa, Interproteccion, DeAcero, Total Health Nutrients, Alpinestars and Bell, visit their official websites at: www.estebanracing.com, www.art-grandprix.com,  www.gp2series.com, www.escuderiatelmex.com, www.fastenal.com, www.vector.com.mx, www.interproteccion.com.mx, www.deacero.com, www.totalhealthnutrients.com, www.alpinestars.com, www.bellsports.com