In 2013 Gutiérrez was promoted to the race team with Sauber, alongside Nico Hülkenberg who joined from Force India. His first outing for the team was the , where he qualified in 18th position. After a solid drive he eventually finished the race thirteenth, the best position of all of the 2013 rookies. In Malaysia, Gutiérrez made it through into Q2 and qualified 14th, and finished in twelfth, after he was forced to pit with five laps remaining.