Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013–2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also the reserve driver for the Williams F1 Team in .
Sutil started karting at the age of 14 and moved into single seater racing in 2002 in the Swiss 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 to Lewis Hamilton in 2005. He went to Japan in 2006 to race in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship and also finished 3rd in the Macau Grand Prix.
Having been involved in the Midland 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 with Force India, he competed in the 2014 season with the Sauber team.
Personal life
Born in Starnberg, West Germany, Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers, named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 75 kilograms (165 pounds) and is 183 centimeters (6 feet) tall. A talented pianist, Sutil speaks fluent German, English, and Spanish and a little Italian.
Shanghai nightclub incident and assault conviction
On the evening following the April 2011 , Sutil was involved in an incident with Genii Capital CEO and owner of the Lotus F1 team Eric Lux in a nightclub in Shanghai. Sutil struck Lux with a champagne glass, causing a wound in his neck which required 24 stitches. Sutil apologised for the incident, which he described as unintentional. Lux's lawyers filed a criminal complaint for physical assault and grievous bodily harm against Sutil. Force India owner Vijay Mallya refused to take action against Sutil until the case proceeded further, but on 16 December 2011 Force India announced they had opted not to renew Sutil's contract for 2012, and would field reserve driver Nico Hülkenberg alongside di Resta.
On 13 January 2012, German prosecutors announced that Sutil would stand trial over the incident, charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. Sutil was convicted of the charge on 31 January 2012, and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence, along with a €200,000 fine that was to be donated to charities "of the court's choosing." Sutil initially had planned on appealing his conviction but eventually decided not to.
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. 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, with Sutil branding Hamilton a "coward."
Sutil remained without a seat throughout 2012.
Car collection
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:
Koenigsegg Agera S
Koenigsegg One:1
Koenigsegg Regera
Pagani Huayra BC
Ferrari Enzo
Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta
Ferrari Monza SP1
Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Centenaire (1 of 4) Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport "Soleil de Nuit" Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse Rembrandt Edition (1 of 3) Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse Black Bess (1 of 3) Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport Bugatti Chiron Sport 110 Ans Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport "Green Rhapsody" Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss McLaren Senna LM
McLaren Senna LM crash
On 30 July 2020, Sutil crashed his McLaren Senna LM into an electricity pylon at the side of the road in Monaco after losing control of the car. 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. 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.