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Haas F1 names Esteban Gutierrez second driver

The 2016 Formula 1 grid is nearly complete with the announcement that Esteban Gutierrez will join the Haas F1 Team. To make the most of the signing the Mexican's appointment was announced during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, and if the crowds at the grand prix are anything to go by then Haas can count on an instant and large fan base as of right now. The 24-year-old Gutierrez will drive alongside Romain Grosjean, who was announced at the end of September at Haas' US base in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Gutierrez spent a little more than two years as a test and reserve driver for Sauber, plus another two years as a Sauber race driver in 2013 and 2014 before being let go at the end of last year and signing on as a Ferrari test and reserve driver. Haas' relationship to Ferrari and Gutierrez' local fans made him - politically, at least - a viable candidate. Manor is expected to be the only team that might have vacancies, but with recent upheavals there it's yet to be seen if they'll make the grid next season. The press release below has more information on the Haas F1 Team signing. Related Video: Haas F1 Team Names Gutierrez to 2016 Race Seat MEXICO CITY (Oct. 30, 2015) – In a press event inside the main lobby of the Soumaya Museum, Haas F1 Team founder and chairman Gene Haas named Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez to a race seat with his team when it makes its 2016 debut in the FIA Formula One World Championship. Gutierrez will race alongside driver Romain Grosjean, who was previously announced by Haas on Sept. 29 in a press conference at the team's U.S. headquarters in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Haas F1 Team is the first America-led Formula One team in 30 years. The 24-year-old Gutierrez is currently the third driver at Scuderia Ferrari, the technical partner of Haas F1 Team. Gutierrez joined Scuderia Ferrari in 2015 after spending the 2013-2014 seasons with the Ferrari-powered Sauber F1 Team. "I got to know Esteban through our relationship with Ferrari, and after looking at the success he's had to earn his role there, it became clear he was an excellent choice for our race team," Haas said. "He's young and hungry, but not inexperienced. His two years running a full F1 schedule has given him some very good race experience, and having spent this season at Ferrari as their third driver allowed him to see firsthand the methodology that makes Ferrari such a power in Formula One. "We're very happy to have Esteban as a part of our race team.

Heads continue to roll at Scuderia Ferrari

It's a year of restructuring at Ferrari – especially when it comes to the Formula One department. Dissatisfied with the team's performance of late, parent company Fiat fired Ferrari's chairman, replaced its team principal twice and brought in another multiple world champion to replace the one it already had. But that's not the end of it. Under the direction of new chairman Sergio Marchionne and team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, the Maranello-based outfit is undergoing a purge in its ranks. Ferrari has fired its veteran engineering director Pat Fry (pictured above at left), its chief designer Nicolas Tombazis (center) and its tire guru Hirohide Hamashima (whom the team picked up shortly after Bridgestone left the sport, not pictured). In their places, Ferrari has named appropriate replacements, and has shuffled some additional staff around. F1 journalist Alberto Antonini, for example, has taken over the press office from Renato Bisignani who will now run the Scuderia's new commercial department. More vital, however, is James Allison, a longtime F1 engineer who previously worked for Ferrari for five years and returned from Lotus last year to take up position as the team's new technical director – too late to influence last season's chassis but now charged with developing next year's. Whether the radical reshuffling of its staff will be enough to reverse the team's fortunes, nobody can say for certain at this point. But without a single grand prix victory this past season, things can hardly get any worse for what historically has been the most victorious team in all of motorsport. The Scuderia Ferrari has been reorganized Maranello, 16 December – Within a few days from his arrival Maurizio Arrivabene, Managing Director of Ferrari's Gestione Sportiva and Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, has restructured his team with a flatter structure and clear assignment of responsibilities. James Allison is the Technical Director with two Italian engineers and home grown Scuderia talent reporting to him: Chief Designer Simone Resta and Power Unit Director Mattia Binotto, the latter will be supported by Chief Designer Power Unit Lorenzo Sassi, among others. Furthermore James Allison will direct track engineering activities ad interim.

Jock Clear, Lewis Hamilton's race engineer at Mercedes, moves to Ferrari

The HR office at the Ferrari Formula One team has been exceptionally busy this year, and the churn hasn't ceased. Just this month under new team principal Mauricio Arrivabene – the third team principal in 2014 – lead designer Nikolas Tombazis and engineering director Pat Fry were let go, and tire performance expert Hirohide Hamashima will leave the team at the end of the year. Now there's another batch of HR paperwork to be completed, but this is a new hire to join Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Gutierrez: Jock Clear, Lewis Hamilton's performance engineer this season at Mercedes AMG Petronas. Clear will take over Pat Fry's vacant role as head of engineering, and brings a Driver's World Championship pedigree with him, having helped Hamilton to his second title and Jacques Villeneuve to his sole title in 1997 with Williams. He hasn't joined the Scuderia yet, though; Ferrari is still negotiating with Mercedes to "secure his services as soon as possible." Clear will work in a totally revamped engineering department and report to technical director and ex-Lotus F1 man James Allison. The last time Ferrari went an entire season without a win was 1993. The team has attempted to hedge expectations for 2015, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne saying, "I think hopefully within the next 12 months we will remove all the baggage of uncertainty that is going to plague at least the initial phase of 2015." Hope springs yet, though: when Arrivabene was asked what he'd be happy with next year, he said, "two or three wins." News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports Ferrari F1