SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Esteban Gutierrez has declared he will be racing in F1 next season, though he refused to be drawn on whether that is with existing team Haas.
Haas plans to announce its driver line-up in early September but it remains unclear whether it will retain Gutierrez alongside Romain Grosjean. The Mexican driver is still searching for his first points of the 2016 season after a frustrating first half of the year, which included four 11th-place finishes.
When asked about his future in the Spa paddock on Thursday, Gutierrez said: "Yes I know. I will be driving."
"It is an exciting moment, isn't it? Everybody is asking what question marks and everything, so it is good. It is where you start to discover where the opportunities and chances are, and things start to move around. Let's see."
After joking he could be driving a cab around Mexico City, he was then asked if he was referring to a race seat, replying: "Of course! I want to be racing. There is no other option."
When Gutierrez clarified he was definitely talking a race seat, and not a reserve or test role, he was then asked if that race seat was in Formula One, to which he said: "Yes! In F1."
Later on Thursday Haas boss Gutenther Steiner faced the press and was asked about Gutierrez's comments and whether he could be referring to another year at the American team. He started by saying Haas has not spoken to the Mexican driver about his future yet.
"I don't want to go into any speculations," Steiner said. "We are fine, we are very calm about drivers, we haven't got a driver problem, I would say.
"There will be a time when we announce the drivers, but I don't know if he's got anybody else! We actually haven't spoken to him or anybody else, it's a bit of a status quo at the moment."
When it was pointed out to him that Gutierrez's comments appeared to be quite cryptic, Steiner replied: "I didn't say I've got the seat, so that question is for him, not for me! I need to speak to him, because if he's going somewhere I will have to ask him 'I hear you've got a seat!'"