Adrian Sutil | |
|---|---|
 Sutil at the2011 Italian Grand Prix | |
| Born | (1983-01-11)11 January 1983 (age 42) Starnberg, Bavaria,West Germany |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  German |
| Active years | 2007–2011,2013–2014 |
| Teams | Spyker,Force India,Sauber |
| Car number | 99 |
| Entries | 128 (128 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 124 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 2007 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
| Previous series | |
| 2022–2023 2006 2005–2006 2004–2005 2003 2002 | Ferrari Challenge Europe Japanese F3 A1 Grand Prix F3 Euro Series Formula BMW ADAC Swiss Formula Ford |
| Championship titles | |
| 2006 2002 | Japanese F3 Swiss Formula Ford |
Adrian Sutil (German pronunciation:[ˈaːdʁiaːnzʊˈtiːl]; born 11 January 1983) is a Germanracing driver, who competed inFormula One from2007 to2014.
Born and raised inStarnberg, Sutil startedkarting aged 14 and moved into single seater racing in 2002 in theSwiss Formula Ford series where he won the title. He moved up into Formula Masters Austria and started 1 race before stepping into Formula BMW ADAC in 2003. Sutil then raced in the Formula 3 Euroseries where he was the runner-up toLewis Hamilton in 2005. He went to Japan in 2006 to race in theAll-Japan Formula Three Championship and also finished 3rd in theMacau Grand Prix.
Having been involved in theMidland F1 test team, Sutil was promoted to a race seat for the new Spyker F1 team in 2007. Sutil continued to race with the team under their new guise Force India in 2008 where he remained until 2011. Having made his return to the sport in 2013 again withForce India, he competed in the 2014 season with the Sauber team.[1] Sutil holds the record for themost career starts without a podium finish (128).
Sutil startedkarting at 14 before moving up toSwissFormula Ford 1800 in 2002. He won all ten rounds of the season frompole and added five wins in theFormula MastersAustria championship.[2]
When Sutil moved up to theFormula BMW ADAC championship in 2003 he finished in sixth place in the series, but with no wins. The following season he stepped up to theFormula 3 Euroseries withColin Kolles' team. Although he scored only twice, the connection he made with Kolles would prove useful in the future. He moved to theASM team at the final round of the year.[2]
Sutil stayed with ASM for 2005 and was joined by British driverLewis Hamilton. Hamilton won more races than Sutil, but the German was runner-up to Hamilton and the Briton's only serious competitor in the championship and at theMarlboro Masters of Formula Three atZandvoort.[2]
Sutil missed the last two rounds of the2005 Euroseries after joiningA1 Team Germany for the inauguralA1 Grand Prix series. He raced for them at three events in Portugal, Australia and Dubai, his best result being two twelfth places.[2]
He spent 2006 racing in Japan and won theAll-Japan Formula Three Championship. He showed a very strong performance all season. He also finished third in theMacau Formula Three Grand Prix and made a one-off appearance in JapaneseSuper GT.[2]
That year also saw Sutil enter Formula One. In January, he was confirmed as one of the three test drivers for the newMidland F1 Racing team, along withMarkus Winkelhock andGiorgio Mondini. This came thanks to his connections with Colin Kolles, who was then running the team.
Sutil appeared for the team as the third driver at theEuropean,French andJapanese Grands Prix. By the time of his third appearance, the outfit had been bought bySpyker Cars. At the end of the year, he was promoted to second driver for the 2007 season, having been signed on a multi-year contract by theSpyker MF1 Team.[3] In an interview with the Official Formula One website, Sutil's first 2007 teammate,Christijan Albers, commented that "Adrian is a good driver and he will be quick this year, but as a driver you should always be pushing to the limits without thinking what the guy in the car next to you is doing. But Adrian will be a good team-mate and it looks as though he's going to be a big talent [for the future]".[4]
During 2007, Sutil out-qualified and out-raced his team-mate Albers at all Grands Prix before the Dutchman was replaced by Sutil's countryman Markus Winkelhock, test driver for the team up until that time at theEuropean Grand Prix. Sutil out-qualified Winkelhock, although the latter went on to lead the race and restart after a sudden downpour. Winkelhock resumed his third driver role for the following grand prix atHungary whenJapanese driverSakon Yamamoto took over the second team seat. Sutil out-performed Yamamoto in the race, passingHonda driversRubens Barrichello andJenson Button.
In theHungarian Grand Prix, Sutil was the first Spyker driver in 2007 to beat another running classified finisher, Honda's Rubens Barrichello.[5]
For theTurkish Grand Prix, a B-spec car was expected for the Spyker team, but it failed a rear crash test and Sutil continued to use the older spec car. After fuel pressure problems, he was forced to start the race from the pits and finished five laps behind. AtMonza, despite the introduction of the B-spec Spyker F8-VII and due to the nature of the circuit, the Spykers were largely uncompetitive once again and Sutil finished 19th, again only in front of his team-mate.
.JPG)
At theBelgian Grand Prix, the strengths of the B-spec car were fully evident with both Sutil and Yamamoto setting competitive times through the three practice sessions culminating in Sutil qualifying only half a second behind 16th placed manVitantonio Liuzzi. During the race, Sutil passed theToyota ofJarno Trulli, Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button as well as theRed Bull'sDavid Coulthard,Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi andWilliams driverAlexander Wurz. He ran as high as 12th before finishing 14th. He was highly praised for his efforts by both team and media.[6]
Two weeks later in the rain atFuji Speedway, Japan, it seemed Sutil had narrowly missed an opportunity to score Spyker's first ever point, briefly holding 8th position on the penultimate lap of the high-attrition race afterNick Heidfeld retired hisBMW, but was almost immediately passed by fellow backmarker Vitantonio Liuzzi in the Toro Rosso and finished 9th. After the race it was found that Liuzzi had overtaken Sutil under yellow flags, and the 25-second penalty for the Italian promoted Sutil to the final points position. Toro Rosso appealed the decision, but the penalty was upheld.[7]
Spyker were not competitive in the final two races of the year, neither of which Sutil finished. He has been praised by many for his performances in the 2007 Formula One Championship. Despite driving the most uncompetitive car of the year, the German rookie impressed by not only dominating all of his teammates in both qualifying and race conditions, but also by challenging other drivers with superior equipment.
Sutil continued with the team in 2008 under its new identity asForce India,[8] after briefly entertaining the possibility of a drive withMcLaren orWilliams.[9] The first two races of the season ended with mechanical failures[10]
While running in a very strong fourth position inMonaco with six laps remaining, he was hit in the rear by fifth placedKimi Räikkönen who lost control of his car while braking for the harbour chicane. A crash a few laps earlier had resulted in the safety car being deployed, with Sutil losing his considerable lead over the Finnish driver. Sutil's car suffered damage to the rear diffuser, and he was forced to retire.[11]Mike Gascoyne called for Räikkönen to be punished over the incident. No punishment, however, was given.[12] However, Sutil had overtaken three cars under yellow flags and according to steward Paul Gutjahr, should he have reached the chequered flag, he would have been given a 25-second penalty which would have dropped him out of the point-scoring positions.[13]
On 17 October Force India announced they would keep Sutil for the 2009 season.[14]
Sutil and the Force India team started the year with a real optimism of points scoring finishes when the European part of the season started after the first four races.[15] BBC commentatorMartin Brundle expressed his personal view that:
"Adrian Sutil will need to be a lot more consistent in 2009 if he is going to establish himself as a bona fide F1 driver. [However,] Sutil can put a good race together and I don't think the Force Indias will necessarily be at the bottom of the timesheets this season."[16]
InAustralia, after starting from 16th on the grid, Sutil progressed steadily through the field to finish just outside the points in 9th place. InMalaysia, he qualified 19th and finished 15th when the race was stopped on lap 33 due to torrential rain.
InChina, Sutil was running in 6th place with 6 laps remaining when he lost control of his Force India – due to aquaplaning – resulting in him crashing and forcing him to retire.
InBahrain, Sutil was penalised for blocking Mark Webber during the first qualifying session. He personally walked into Mark's room to apologise for the incident.
InSpain, after running wide at the first corner of the first lap Sutil rejoined the track only to hit the Toyota ofJarno Trulli. The Italian had also run wide and was rejoining the track. This forced both drivers to retire and caused the two Toro Rossos ofSébastien Bourdais andSébastien Buemi to crash into each other.
InMonaco, Sutil finished 14th and finished 17th inTurkey, after qualifying a career-best of 15th.
In qualifying inBritain, Sutil went off at Abbey corner after brake failure in Q1. Qualifying was red flagged and as a result no one else could post a lap time. This meant that Sutil was to start from 18th on the grid, although the team had hoped that both Sutil andGiancarlo Fisichella would get into Q2. Due to the damage caused by the accident he had to start from the pit lane because he needed to use a new car and a new engine, and went on to finish 17th in an uneventful race.
InGermany, Sutil took advantage of the unpredictable conditions in qualifying, and secured his best-ever qualifying position of seventh. In the race, he was lying in second place for a while before his first pit stop. However, a collision withKimi Räikkönen after coming out of the pit lane meant he had to pit again to replace his front wing. He finished 15th. It was the second time that a collision with Räikkönen cost Sutil the chance to score points, after the previous incident at the2008 Monaco Grand Prix.
InHungary, he was forced to retire after just two laps because a water temperature problem caused the engine to overheat, after qualifying 17th.
InValencia, new aerodynamic upgrades for theVJM02 saw him qualify 12th, and he then raced steadily to finish 10th, demonstrating that the team were at last showing signs of competitiveness, as teammate Fisichella finished 12th behind Heidfeld'sBMW Sauber.
InBelgium, he qualified 11th, although the main celebrations in the Force India pit were for teammateGiancarlo Fisichella's excellent pole position. Sutil finished 11th, while Fisichella finished less than a second behind Kimi Räikkönen's race-winning Ferrari.
At theItalian Grand Prix, Sutil took his career best qualifying result of second place and finished fourth in the race behind Räikkönen, despite accidentally overshooting his mechanics during his final pit stop, but they suffered only minor injuries. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, his first in Formula One and the first fastest lap recorded for Force India. This finish would be the best of his F1 career.
InSingapore, Sutil was forced to retire after he collided withNick Heidfeld ofBMW Sauber, moving into his path as he recovered from a spin. After the race, Sutil was reprimanded by race stewards and fined $20,000 for causing an avoidable accident.[17]
InJapan, Sutil took his second best career qualifying result of fourth, but was given a 5 grid place penalty along with Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello andFernando Alonso for not slowing down while yellow flags were waved (due to a crash by Sebastien Buemi, who was also demoted five places for attempting to drive his badly damaged Toro Rosso back to the pits) and started the race from eighth on the grid. Sutil finished 13th.
In the wet qualifying session inBrazil, Sutil qualified third, but retired on lap one following a collision with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. Out of control on the wet grass outside Turn 5, Trulli hit Sutil, and then slid back onto the track and struck Alonso'sRenault, resulting in all three being out of the race. Trulli blamed Sutil for pushing him outside the track at the fifth corner and thus causing the accident, and furiously berated the German at the side of the track in full-view of worldwide TV cameras. This time the stewards took no action against Sutil for the accident, while Trulli was fined $10,000 for his unacceptable behaviour.[18] The matter was not resolved however, as Sutil and Trulli still argued about the accident two weeks later at the driver's press conference for theAbu Dhabi Grand Prix.[19]
In Abu Dhabi, Sutil was unusually off the pace, qualifying only 18th on the grid. Although he overtook several cars during the race, a poor pit strategy resulted in Sutil finishing the race at the back of the field, scrapping with Fisichella (who had joined Ferrari) and Renault'sRomain Grosjean. The German eventually finished 17th, 1 lap down but ahead of the Frenchman.
.jpg)
Sutil was in talks withForce India to renew his contract, and on 27 November 2009, the team announced that the German's contract had been renewed, while test-driverVitantonio Liuzzi was given a full-time race seat.[20] Sutil qualified tenth for the first two races of the year, but a collision withRobert Kubica in Bahrain and a mechanical failure in Australia meant he was unable to score points in either race. However, Sutil commented that the performances proved that the team could now score points in dry races.[21] This comment was backed up by Sutil's fifth-place finish in the following race inMalaysia. InChina he finished 11th. InSpain he finished 7th and inMonaco he finished 8th. Sutil again finished in the points inTurkey with a 9th place. He followed this result with points scoring finishes in the next three rounds inCanada,Europe andBritain.
Sutil remained with Force India for2011, and was joined byDTM championPaul di Resta. In the first three races of the season, Sutil was out-qualified by di Resta. Sutil finished ninth in theAustralian Grand Prix, at the expense of theSauber cars being disqualified from the race, having finished eleventh on the road. InMalaysia, Sutil finished eleventh, just behind di Resta, and inChina, he qualified eleventh. InMonaco, he had his best result of the season, finishing seventh. He retired inCanada after hitting a wall, which resulted in damage to his car's suspension. A ninth-place finish inValencia was followed by eleventh at theBritish Grand Prix, missing out on the final points-scoring position, held byJaime Alguersuari, by just 0.6 seconds. At hishome race, Sutil took a season best finish of sixth place, after implementing a different strategy to some of the drivers around him on the grid, making just two pit stops to the three made by his rivals.
Despite qualifying in the top ten inHungary, Sutil could only finish 14th, before another points-scoring finish – finishing seventh, after starting 15th on the grid after an accident in qualifying – at theBelgian Grand Prix. He retired atMonza after his car suffered a hydraulics problem, before an eighth-place finish inSingapore, holding off a late-race challenge fromFelipe Massa. InJapan, Sutil ran inside the top ten placings for much of the race, but finished the race just outside the points in eleventh place, having been passed byVitaly Petrov andNico Rosberg in the closing stages of the race. Another eleventh place followed inKorea, before a ninth-place finish in the inaugural race inIndia.[22] At the final race inBrazil, Sutil matched his best finish of the season with sixth place, and as a result, moved into ninth place in the final championship standings.[23] As a result of his assault convictions (seeabove), Sutil was released at the end of the 2011 season and replaced withNico Hülkenberg.[24]
On 28 February 2013, Force India announced that Sutil would return to the team to complete their driver lineup alongsidePaul di Resta.[25] He finished seventh at the season-openingAustralian Grand Prix, impressing on his comeback by leading for a number of laps throughout the race.[26]
InMalaysia, he retired from the race following problems with a new captivewheel nut system that the team had introduced at the beginning of the season.[27]
He also retired from theChinese Grand Prix, after being hit byEsteban Gutiérrez. After two non-points finishes he showed a respectable performance at theMonaco Grand Prix by overtaking the world championsFernando Alonso andJenson Button to finally end up in 5th position.[28]
It was announced on 13 December 2013 that Sutil would join Sauber for 2014.[1] For the first six races of the 2014 season Sutil struggled with a car which lacked pace and he also made a number of mistakes which lost him possible points finishes. At theJapanese Grand Prix, Sutil aquaplaned into turn seven on lap 42, stranding his car. Double yellow flags were waved at the corner while a recovery vehicle was dispatched to recover Sutil's car. The following lap,Jules Bianchi lost control of hisMarussia at a high speed, crashing into the recovery vehicle. Bianchi ultimately died on 17 July 2015, aged 25, due to complications from histraumatic brain injury. Sutil ended up with the most DNFs of the season.
In November 2014, it was announced he would be dropped and replaced for the2015 Formula One season.[29]
Sutil joinedWilliams as a reserve driver prior to the2015 Malaysian Grand Prix. Sutil was appointed after Williams driverValtteri Bottas was injured during theAustralian Grand Prix, with the team wanting an experienced race driver to deputise for either Bottas orFelipe Massa to maximise their constructors championship points, should either race driver be unable to participate.[30]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | HBR Motorsport | HOC1 1 7 | HOC1 2 6 | ADR 1 4 | ADR 2 6 | NÜR1 1 6 | NÜR1 2 7 | LAU 1 22 | LAU 2 Ret | NOR 1 Ret | NOR 2 Ret | NÜR2 1 6 | NÜR2 2 8 | NÜR3 1 3 | NÜR3 2 3 | A1R 1 Ret | A1R 2 DSQ | ZAN 1 10 | ZAN 2 10 | HOC2 1 2 | HOC2 2 Ret | 6th | 86 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Team Kolles | Dallara F303/012 | HWA-Mercedes | HOC 1 Ret | HOC 2 22 | EST 1 Ret | EST 2 13 | ADR 1 4 | ADR 1 7 | PAU 1 11 | PAU 2 Ret | NOR 1 Ret | NOR 1 11 | MAG 1 13 | MAG 2 11 | NÜR 1 15 | NÜR 2 11 | ZAN 1 15 | ZAN 2 15 | BRN 1 15 | BRN 2 17 | 17th | 9 | ||
| ASM Formule 3 | Dallara F303/014 | HWA-Mercedes | HOC 3 20 | HOC 4 Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | ASM Formule 3 | Dallara F305/059 | Mercedes | HOC 1 2 | HOC 2 20 | PAU 1 Ret | PAU 2 2 | SPA 1 1 | SPA 2 2 | MON 1 2 | MON 2 Ret | OSC 1 2 | OSC 2 3 | NOR 1 Ret | NOR 2 2 | NÜR 1 1 | NÜR 2 3 | ZAN 1 Ret | ZAN 2 11 | LAU 1 4 | LAU 2 2 | HOC 3 | HOC 4 | 2nd | 94 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Germany | GBR SPR | GBR FEA | GER SPR | GER FEA | POR SPR 12 | POR FEA Ret | AUS SPR Ret | AUS FEA Ret | MYS SPR | MYS FEA | UAE SPR Ret | UAE FEA 12 | RSA SPR | RSA FEA | IDN SPR | IDN FEA | MEX SPR | MEX FEA | USA SPR | USA FEA | CHN SPR | CHN FEA | 15th | 38 | [35] |
Source:[33] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | TOM'S | Dallara | Toyota | FUJ 1 1 | FUJ 2 4 | SUZ 1 5 | SUZ 2 3 | MOT 1 3 | MOT 2 1 | OKA 1 1 | OKA 2 1 | SUZ 3 3 | SUZ 4 3 | AUT 1 6 | AUT 2 3 | FUJ 3 Ret | FUJ 4 1 | SUG 1 3 | SUG 2 2 | MOT 3 Ret | MOT 4 DSQ | 1st | 212 | [36] |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
† Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed >90% of the race distance.
Born inStarnberg,West Germany, Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan.[2] He has two brothers, named Daniel and Raphael. A talented pianist,[38] Sutil speaks fluent German, English, and Spanish and a little Italian.[citation needed]
On the evening following the April 2011Chinese Grand Prix, Sutil was involved in an incident with Genii Capital CEO and owner of the Lotus F1 teamEric Lux in a nightclub in Shanghai. Sutil struck Lux with a champagne glass, causing a wound in his neck which required 24 stitches.[39] Sutil apologised for the incident, which he described as unintentional.[40] Lux's lawyers filed a criminal complaint for physical assault andgrievous bodily harm against Sutil.[41] Force India ownerVijay Mallya refused to take action against Sutil until the case proceeded further,[42] but on 16 December 2011 Force India announced they had opted not to renew Sutil's contract for 2012, and would field reserve driverNico Hülkenberg alongside di Resta.[39][43]
On 13 January 2012, German prosecutors announced that Sutil would stand trial over the incident, charged with assault occasioninggrievous bodily harm.[44] Sutil was convicted of the charge on 31 January 2012, and received an 18-monthsuspended prison sentence, along with a€200,000 fine[45] that was to be donated to charities "of the court's choosing."[39] Sutil initially had planned on appealing his conviction but eventually decided not to.[46]
Lewis Hamilton, among Sutil's friends at the time, was also present in the nightclub that night. He was named as a defence witness by Sutil's side, but Hamilton did not appear in court because the trial coincided with the launch of his team's car.[47] He stated he could attend a retrial, should one take place, as he would not be occupied on the scheduled day, but as a result, the friendship of the two drivers ended,[47] with Sutil branding Hamilton a "coward."[48]
Sutil remained without a seat throughout 2012.[49]
Adrian Sutil is a prolific car collector, owning a large collection of significant and expensive cars. He has the largest car collection of any Formula 1 driver past or present.
Sutil's car collection includes:[50]
On 30 July 2020, Sutil crashed hisMcLaren Senna LM into an electricity pylon at the side of the road in Monaco after losing control of the car.[51] Sutil's Senna – one of 35 Senna LM made – was heavily damaged; with its front bumper, front panels and bonnet detached from its chassis, with the windscreen shattered. Sutil emerged from the wreckage unscathed.[52] Rather than being scrapped, Sutil's Senna LM was rebuilt. The process took over 2 years, with the rebuild process finishing in late December 2022.
Sahara Force India is pleased to announce that Adrian Sutil will complete its driver line-up for the 2013 season.
Adrian Sutil spent a large portion of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix in the lead...Nonetheless, Sutil's race was impressive as he retained the lead after his first pit-stop.
Britain's Paul Di Resta and Germany's Adrian Sutil both missed out on likely points at Sepang as mechanics struggled in vain to remove and replace wheels using a 'captive wheelnut' system.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | All-Japan Formula Three Champion 2006 | Succeeded by |
