Esteban Gutierrez has been given a post-race penalty after colliding with Romain Grosjean during the Italian Grand Prix.
Gutierrez clipped the Lotus on the main straight, suffering a punctured right-rear tyre. He eventually crossed the line in 19th place, two laps down.
The stewards handed him a 20-second penalty which dropped him to 20th places behind Marcus Ericsson.
According to the stewards Sauber had offered a mitigating factor for the collision. “The stewards accepted the explanation of the team that car 21 [Gutierrez] was experiencing brake problems,” they said in a statement.
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn described the collision as “unnecessary”.
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Image © Sauber
PhilEReid (@philereid)
7th September 2014, 16:46
Pretty pointless penalty when it comes down to it. Grid penalty would have made more sense.
Dave (@)
7th September 2014, 16:47
GUT hit the front of GRO, and the stewards believed it was due to brake problems?
George (@george)
7th September 2014, 19:28
I think he moved towards Grosjean after they started braking, so if he had a brake imbalance that could explain it.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
7th September 2014, 16:47
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn described the collision as “unnecessary, and a sign that we need new drivers, not just a better car, these ones suck”.
Andre (@lheela)
7th September 2014, 16:54
Please add a line like “She should have said: …” next time, for a moment I thought she really said that.
On the topic, agree 100%. I always wished Sauber the best, yet in 2014 they have only themselves to blame for those horrible drivers. They had the chance at (maybe even good) points in Monaco, yet the drivers threw it away.
Marussia, even tho they have a even slower car, goes on to show them that sometimes it is about the driver, not the car.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
7th September 2014, 17:13
@lheela hehe, I forgot!
But yeah… she should’ve said that.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
7th September 2014, 16:48
This is just a pointless penalty. Gutierrez should have been given a 5-place grid penalty for the next race.
Jules Winfield (@jules-winfield)
7th September 2014, 17:08
Gutierrez is a complete waste of a seat.
Michael Brown (@)
7th September 2014, 17:35
He didn’t score any points anyway. The penalty has no effect.
George O'Donnell (@georgeod)
7th September 2014, 17:37
This incident reminded me of what happened between Kovalainen and Vergne in Valencia 2012 where Vergne moved across in the braking zone and hit Kovalainen. I seem to recall Vergne getting a very large fine. Maybe this would be an appropriate penalty for Gutierrez? I assume he doesn’t earn that much money as a pay driver, so a fine would actually hurt him and make him think about his actions.
Fritz Oosthuizen (@)
8th September 2014, 5:21
Pay drivers simply don’t get fines.
bull mello (@bullmello)
7th September 2014, 17:49
Clumsy by Gutierrez. It sure would be nice to see Sauber with better drivers and a better car next season.
greg-c (@greg-c)
8th September 2014, 12:47
@bullmello
Not really his fault mate !
He was texting his girlfriend
“Hi babe ,gr8race
About to play Metallica and put the race eyes on ”
When he dropped the MP3 player ,
You can see in the replay him fumbling around under his seat feeling for the dam thing !
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
7th September 2014, 17:49
What a result for Ericsson, he’s not last!
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
7th September 2014, 18:03
Gutierrez has been completely useless this season. Then again, his team mate hasn’t done much better. You’d have to wonder where Sauber would be in the standings if they still had Hulkenberg.
Rick Lopez (@viscountviktor)
7th September 2014, 19:23
Gut is a joke.
greg-c (@greg-c)
8th September 2014, 23:19
Monisha Kaltenborn’s office door After Monza
“knock knock”
Liam Hall (@ltsh)
7th September 2014, 20:06
Gutierrez NEEDS TO GO! Sutil is no better and sauber have no chance of improving with them two. Fair enough they bring money but if they can barly drive then there’s no hope. Hope this Canadian billionaire buys the team and sauber can start to make some progress
Solo (@solo)
3rd December 2014, 19:43
The way this is going am afraid they will indeed go but along with the Sauber team all together.
Strontium (@strontium)
7th September 2014, 21:13
If I were the stewards I would give him at least 1 penalty point too. Pretty ‘pointless’ penalty otherwise.
Deej92 (@deej92)
7th September 2014, 21:44
Some were glad to see him getting a second year as he was improving at the end of 2013 (I wasn’t so sure but I can see the financial benefits), but I think he’s proven this year he just isn’t up to scratch. I don’t like being too critical, but I really would have Maldonado over Gutierrez (the former outpacing Grosjean through Saturday and Sunday).
greg-c (@greg-c)
8th September 2014, 12:52
@deej92
Oh dear mate, you gotta aim a bit higher than Mal !!! lol
Deej92 (@deej92)
8th September 2014, 17:40
@greg-c Haha, I would but money’s tight. ;)
greg-c (@greg-c)
8th September 2014, 23:01
Maybe sign a 16 year old hope for the best !
Cheap up front and you could always Sir Frank him!
( sell him later )