Esteban Gutierrez will miss Texas IndyCar race with Dale Coyne
Esteban Gutierrez will step back out of the Dale Coyne Racing IndyCar team for Saturday's Texas Motor Speedway race as he needs more time to prepare for his oval debut
Ex-Formula 1 driver Gutierrez joined the IndyCar field as the injured Sebastien Bourdais' replacement in Detroit last weekend.
He has now parted with the Techeetah Formula E team with the intention of being available for the rest of the IndyCar season.
But in order to race at Texas, Gutierrez would first have to take an oval rookie test and this is not possible this week as IndyCar is in a testing blackout period.
The series' next oval round is not until the Iowa Speedway event in July.
Autosport understands Oriol Servia is the leading candidate to take the Coyne drive for Texas.
Servia drove for Coyne in Champ Car in 2004 and is available for Texas as his part-time deal with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing ended for now after Detroit.
Gutierrez finished 19th and 14th in the two Detroit races.
His advisor Adrian Fernandez - a Champ Car and IndyCar race winner - said that while he was "very pleased" with Gutierrez's debut, it was important he had maximum preparation time for ovals.
"It's not easy by any means to jump in a car without any time or preparation and race at such a hard track like Detroit," Fernandez told Autosport.
"That's extremely difficult regardless of how much experience a driver has with different types of car.
"So I was very pleased with Esteban. He kept his nose clean and did a decent job under the circumstances.
"But my opinion is that you can do this on a road or street course but I don't think you should do it on an oval - not without good preparation.
"You have an example with Fernando Alonso. He did an extremely good job but at Indy he had a week to prepare.
"He had a test day, he had rookie orientation where they take you slowly through the build-up to high speed, he had all types of good people helping him like Michael [Andretti] and Gil de Ferran.
"And then he had a lot of days to take his time and learn all the tricks about ovals.
"Texas is one of the most difficult ovals to just come and race, so I would say [Gutierrez] should step away from it until he has proper time testing on ovals."
Gutierrez is expected to resume his Coyne deal from the next non-oval race at Elkhart Lake on June 25.
Graham Rahal completes dominant Detroit IndyCar double win
IndyCar picks Dallara for 2018 universal aerokit, reveals design
Bathurst 12 Hour: Van Gisbergen Mercedes leads after first quarter
Shane van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight Mercedes headed Matt Campbell’s Manthey Porsche after three hours of racing at Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Tanak scores first Puma win in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden
Ott Tanak claimed his first victory driving an M-Sport Ford Puma after winning the Otepaa Winter Rally in preparation for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Sweden.
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
It’s 30 years since Mansell won the Formula 1 world title and then headed off to do battle in America. Here are his best races – and the Briton’s memories of them
How Ericsson achieved Indy immortality as Ganassi's main man stumbled
Chip Ganassi Racing team was strong again in the Indianapolis 500, with poleman Scott Dixon and reigning champion Alex Palou leading almost three quarters of the race between them. But when dominator Dixon was penalised for pitlane speeding, ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson stepped up to score the biggest win of his career and seize the IndyCar points lead
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
In an enthralling 2021 IndyCar campaign, the series bounced back from its COVID-19 truncated year prior and Alex Palou defeated both the established order and his fellow young guns to clinch a maiden title. It capped a remarkable season with plenty of standout performers
How F1's other IndyCar exile finally unlocked his potential
Romain Grosjean's swashbuckling rookie year in IndyCar captured the imagination of many in 2021. But another ex-Formula 1 driver whose potential was masked by five years of toil in, at best, middling machinery also enjoyed a breakout year in 2021 - winning twice and finishing sixth in points. Here's how Marcus Ericsson finally delivered on his promise
How Ganassi's relentless new champion outfoxed IndyCar's best
IndyCar sophomore Alex Palou stunned by overcoming team-mate Scott Dixon and the rest of a white-hot field in 2021. He was consistently fast and crucially showed a level head, rebounding well from setbacks to put himself in a near unassailable position entering the final round
Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCar’s next winning match-up?
Despite appearing to have an IndyCar job for life with Meyer Shank Racing, Jack Harvey’s departure and move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing sparked plenty of debate. However, Harvey's and RLL's combined strengths could prove to be a winning combination - if they get the balance right
Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing IndyCar win
Saturday 16 October marks the 10th anniversary of Dan Wheldon’s death. David Malsher-Lopez pays tribute, then asks Wheldon’s race engineer from 2011, Todd Malloy, to recall that magical second victory at the Indianapolis 500
Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting
Kyle Kirkwood, the record-setting junior formula driver, sealed the Indy Lights championship last weekend. But despite an absurdly strong junior career and scholarship money, his next move is far from clear
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.