Esteban Gutierrez Joins Sauber / Charles Pic joins Caterham

Sauber has confirmed that Esteban Gutierrez will be promoted from its reserve role to a race seat alongside Nico Hulkenberg for the 2013 Formula 1 season.

Team boss Monisha Kaltenborn is confident that the 21-year-old Mexican, a long time Sauber protege, is now ready to be on the F1 grid.

"Esteban has already been part of the team for a long time and we have followed his career very closely," she said.

"In 2010 we signed him up as an affiliated driver, and in 2011 and 2012 he was our test and reserve driver. We mapped out his path to Formula 1 step by step.

"Esteban has great talent and now he's ready to take the leap. We are in no doubt we have a strong driver pairing in place for the 2013 season with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez."



Charles Pic will move from Marussia to Caterham for the 2013 Formula 1 season, having signed a multi-year deal.

The 22-year-old Frenchman has earned recognition for his performances relative to experienced team-mate Timo Glock at Marussia this season. His best results to date are 15th places in Melbourne and Valencia.

Caterham team boss Cyril Abiteboul said Pic had impressed him while challenging his cars with the Marussia.

"We are thrilled that Charles has decided to join us for his second season in F1 and beyond," said Abiteboul.

"We are all looking forward to working with a young driver who has clearly shown in his first season in F1 that he has the pace, racecraft and demeanour to help us achieve our goals.

"Throughout the 2012 season we have been monitoring the progress that Charles has made, challenging us on several occasions in qualifying, and it is clear that he is a special talent.

"As the year has progressed he has performed extremely well against a very experienced team-mate and we are looking forward to seeing him develop further within the environment we will provide in 2013 and beyond.