A season in review ix
Estaban GUTIERREZ's return to formula 1 has been about as successful as his first stint. ben looks into the mexican's season
Points: 0
Position: 21st
Many things have changed in F1 over the years: the cars, the engines, the tracks, the teams. However one thing that has never changed and never will change is one simple rule – points mean prizes. The aim of the game is simple, score as many points as possible. 2 points gave Sauber the prize of an extra $35m, 385 points gave Nico Rosberg the prize of a maiden championship, just like 0 points gave Esteban Gutierrez absolutely nothing. On paper it will say that Haas beat Renault, Manor and Sauber but the truth is Grosjean beat those three teams without any help from Esteban. Grosjean started to slow down towards the end of the year, but you can’t get away from the fact that Gutierrez essentially contributed nothing to the team’s effort.
Possibly more annoying for him and his fans is that there was potential throughout the year. He finished 11th on five occasions, and actually beat Grosjean on track 10 races to 9! Of course it’s nice to beat your teammate but unfortunately it means close to nothing. It’s the 29 vs 0 on points that matter. Considering the five 11th place finishes and his ability to beat Grosjean, some may come to the conclusion that he was just unlucky during the season (Gutierrez seems to have come to that conclusion himself) but I really don’t take that view, he put himself into positions to get points and failed to convert even once. That’s not the sign of a winner.
Haas, somewhat unsurprisingly, haven’t renewed his contract and instead gone in the direction of Kevin Magnussen to partner Grosjean leaving Esteban in the F1 wilderness. After his dismissal (that he has claimed to be “unfair”) he’s now got to hope an opportunity arises at either Sauber or Manor
Season Rating: BH – 4.5/10
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Comments (1)
It was the wrong driver pic to begin with but there was not much to choose from. Give Haas a couple more seasons to improve the team and they'll attract better pilots.