Esteban Gutierrez tests on Williams simulator

Esteban Gutierrez Tests on the Simulator of the AT&T Williams F1 Team

Gutierrez Continues Making History

Oxford, United Kingdom - Proudly Mexican driver, Esteban Manuel Gutierrez Gutierrez officially becomes the first Mexican driver in history to drive a Formula 1 simulator. The young driver was invited a couple of weeks ago by the AT&T Williams team owner Frank Williams, to do a trial session in the team simulator located in the team's factory in Oxford. Very excited and grateful, Esteban accepted this great opportunity offered to him by the former of nine world champions (Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve). Besides the driver championships, the team also has nine constructor championships.

When he arrived at the factory facilities, Esteban was received by Frank Wiliams's son, Jonathan Williams, who is currently a partner in the ISport team in the GP2 Series. Gutierrez was also escorted by the one and only Frank Williams, as well as the Technical Director Sam Michael and some other important members of the British team. The Aztec driver had 5 team engineers helping him out, analyzing every detail of the test, as well as a driver coach. When Esteban arrived, the first thing they did was prepare the seat and pedals to then drive 5 trial laps around the virtual track of Fuji, Japan, which is a 4.563 Km. long track, with the longest main straight drive in the F1 championship, with 14 curves (5 to the left and 9 to the right), with a medium aerodynamic load, medium tire wear and where average speeds of up to 335 km/h are reached in a F1.

In the afternoon, Gutierrez was able to drive 50 laps around the historic virtual Japanese circuit. 50 laps that were divided in different sessions in which the engineers and Esteban analyzed the data and saw in detail where the driver from Monterrey, Mexico could improve. The information that the team was able to gather about Esteban will be good to make comparisons with the German driver Nico Rosberg and Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima, current featured drivers of the British team. After the trial in the simulator, Esteban did a theory exam, a technical evaluation that will allow the team to see what Esteban's character is like in the races.

"It was a very special day and experience for me. This invitation by Mr. Frank Williams has a very important value and meaning in my life as a person and as a professional driver. I had the opportunity of being in the team's factory and then to get on board the simulator which has the same cockpit, pedals and steering wheel as a F1 car. It also has a special screen so that everything feels life-sized. With the information they were able to gather about my performance, they will be able to compare it with Nico and Kazuki. Although they've been testing for much longer in this same simulator, I was very close to Nico's times," Esteban commented.

"Regarding the Fuji circuit, it has very good references and it's also very technical, that is why they decided to test me in this circuit, so they could evaluate my abilities on this track. Thanks to the professionalism of the whole team, I was able to live a great experience and at the same time to learn many things that will be useful in the future. Frank commented at the end that the doors are open to return any other time, which we hope will be soon," the Mexican driver added.

To continue with his training plan aimed at next season, Gutierrez will test with the ART Grand Prix team on November 4th, in the prestigious circuit of Magny Tours.

-credit: estebangtz.com