Mexican Esteban Gutierrez will be promoted to Sauber’s second race driver next season as Marussia’s Charles Pic, of France, switches to Caterham.

Gutierrez, 21, moves up from the reserve team and will replace Kamui Kobayashi beside Nico Hulkenberg, recruited from Force India to replace another Mexican, Sergio Perez, who joins McLaren in 2013.

Gutierrez, who signed for the Swiss team as a reserve driver in 2010, has never raced in F1 and finished third in the GP2 championship last season.

“We are in no doubt we have a strong driver pairing in place for the 2013 season with Nico and Esteban,” Sauber Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn said.

Gutierrez added: “It will be a great pleasure to be racing in the same team as an experienced driver like Nico Hulkenberg.

“He will be a good reference point for me and will push me to adapt quickly to F1 competition so we can develop the car together with the team in the best way.”

Dutch driver Robin Frijns, 21, has been taken on board as Sauber’s test and reserve driver.

Pic, meanwhile, will move to Caterham after signing a long-term deal with the British outfit.

The 22-year-old has impressed this year in contrast with his more experienced partner Timo Glock.

“It is clear that the team has great ambitions for the future,” said Pic, whose best results in his first season with Marussia were a 15th place at the Australian GP, the first of his F1 career, and at the Euro GP in Valencia.

Both of Caterham’s current drivers Finn Heikki Kovalainen and Russian Vitaly Petrov face uncertain futures.

Kovalainen admitted this week that he feared he would be out of F1 next season.