Gutierrez breaks Sonoma lap record twice in Mercedes W07 F1 car
Mercedes Formula 1 development driver Esteban Gutierrez has set a new unofficial lap record around the Sonoma Raceway in the team’s title-winning W07 car.
The former Sauber and Haas driver, who last raced in F1 for the American squad in 2016, completed a series of runs during the four-day inaugural Sonoma Speed Festival.
Mercedes Formula 1 development driver Esteban Gutierrez has set a new unofficial lap record around the Sonoma Raceway in the team’s title-winning W07 car.
The former Sauber and Haas driver, who last raced in F1 for the American squad in 2016, completed a series of runs during the four-day inaugural Sonoma Speed Festival.
Driving the Mercedes W07 hybrid F1 car that dominated the 2016 season, winning 18 out of 21 races and taking Nico Rosberg to his maiden crown, Gutierrez initially posted a 1m17.425s on Sunday, before beating his own benchmark by two seconds with a 1m15.430 on Monday.
Marc Gene had turned in a 1m21.004s lap in Ferrari’s V-10-powered 2004 F1 car during a recent run around the 2.52-mile circuit, which had bettered the previous lap record – a 1m21.688s – set by Marco Werner in 2004 while driving a Audi Sport LMP1 car.
Flat out in California!
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) June 2, 2019
Ride onboard the 2016 Mercedes F1 W07/04 with @EstebanGtz at the 2019 @sonomaspeedfest! pic.twitter.com/FlWJtSBLdj
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