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Ex-Haas F1 driver Gutierrez talking with 'top team' about test role

Esteban Gutierrez says he is in talks with a "top team" about returning to a test driver role in Formula 1 this year.

Gutierrez spent 2015 as a reserve driver with Ferrari, before returning to racing in F1 with new customer team Haas last season.

The former Sauber driver failed to score a point for Haas in its debut season, and lost his seat to Kevin Magnussen for 2017.

Gutierrez plans to make selected outings in Formula E this year, but says "there are doors still open in F1" and that he is in talks with one of its big teams about becoming a test driver.

"I have some options to be in Formula 1 as a test driver, which I'm evaluating," Gutierrez told Autosport.

"There are doors still open. Fortunately I have good relationships with many people, which I developed through the years.

"I am focusing on a particular team. It's one of the top teams."

Gutierrez agreed to become a Ferrari reserve after losing his Sauber seat at the end of 2014 because of the route it opened for him to eventually return to the grid.

He says he will only follow a similar path again if it can achieve similar results.

"It's about timing. I have worked a lot, and I have to decide whether this can be an option that makes sense for my future," Gutierrez added.

"Obviously the timing [of the Haas decision] for me was not ideal at the end of last season, so I'm really looking at the options that are there for my career in the present, and develop my vision for the opportunity to keep growing.

"I don't want to do things just for the sake of doing them and just to be there [in the F1 paddock].

"I want to have something that makes sense."

Zdroj: autosport.com