Focus on Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil appears to have found a home at Force India. The 27-year-old German driver is at the end of his contract with the former Spyker team but has recently said that he would be happy to stick with the team for the long haul. According to Sutil, there isn’t a better ride available and he believes that his five years of experience with the team (including one test year) gives him an advantage.
There’s no doubt that Sutil is currently at a high point in his career. Heading into the Silverstone Grand Prix, Sutil is 10th in the Drivers’ Championship. He’s earned 31 points through nine races this season, which is particularly impressive considering that he earned just six points in his first three seasons in Formula 1. If any driver had made the “great leap forward” from field filler to competitive driver in 2010, it’s Sutil.
Unlike many drivers whose family backgrounds are in racing, Sutil comes from a very different pedigree – music. Both his mother and father (a Uruguayan immigrant) were professional musicians, with his father playing violin with the Müncher Philharmonie for many years. Sutil himself was trained as a classical pianist and it looked like he would be taking that career path until he discovered karting at the age of 14.
He spent several years working his way through the ranks of karting in Europe before moving up to the Swiss Formula Ford 1800 series in 2002. He dominated that series, winning all 10 races while starting from the pole each time. He also competed in the Formula Masters Austria series that year, winning five races.
After finishing sixth in the Formula BMW championship in 2003 he moved up to the Formula Three Euroseries in 2004. It was there that he drove for Colin Kolles, which would prove to be the connection that would help guide him to Formula 1. He finished second in the Formula Three series (behind teammate Lewis Hamilton) in 2005 before racing in the A1 Grand Prix and in Japan in 2006.
His performances in the different race series were enough to convince Kolles – who by then had moved on to run the Spyker team – that he was ready for Formula 1. He was the test driver for the team in 2006 and was promoted to the number two seat for 2007. However, he quickly showed his talent, outperforming his veteran teammate Christijan Albers before Albers was replaced. Overall, the Spyker team was at the rear of the Formula 1 pecking order in 2007, although Sutil was able to finish ahead of other classified drivers in certain races.
Sutil showed more promise in 2008 as the team was renamed Force India. The highlight of Sutil’s season was his strong run at the Monaco Grand Prix that year, when Sutil had climbed to fourth place before contact with Kimi Raikkonen forced him to retire. However, an unreliable car plagued Sutil as he was only able to finish seven of the 18 races.
2009 would be a breakout season for Sutil after he was retained by the Force Indian team. The season also saw a new team principal, as Force India chairman Vijay Mallya took over from Kolles, who would move on to start the HRT team in 2010. The team (and Sutil) would find the consistency they had been lacking in the past, failing to finish just five of the 17 races. Among the highlights were the Italian Grand Prix, where he would finish a career-best fourth after qualifying second, and qualifying third at the Brazilian Grand Prix later in the year.
Focus on Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil appears to have found a home at Force India. The 27-year-old German driver is at the end of his contract with the former Spyker team but has recently said that he would be happy to stick with the team for the long haul. According to Sutil, there isn’t a better ride available and he believes that his five years of experience with the team (including one test year) gives him an advantage.
There’s no doubt that Sutil is currently at a high point in his career. Heading into the Silverstone Grand Prix, Sutil is 10th in the Drivers’ Championship. He’s earned 31 points through nine races this season, which is particularly impressive considering that he earned just six points in his first three seasons in Formula 1. If any driver had made the “great leap forward” from field filler to competitive driver in 2010, it’s Sutil.
Unlike many drivers whose family backgrounds are in racing, Sutil comes from a very different pedigree – music. Both his mother and father (a Uruguayan immigrant) were professional musicians, with his father playing violin with the Müncher Philharmonie for many years. Sutil himself was trained as a classical pianist and it looked like he would be taking that career path until he discovered karting at the age of 14.
He spent several years working his way through the ranks of karting in Europe before moving up to the Swiss Formula Ford 1800 series in 2002. He dominated that series, winning all 10 races while starting from the pole each time. He also competed in the Formula Masters Austria series that year, winning five races.
After finishing sixth in the Formula BMW championship in 2003 he moved up to the Formula Three Euroseries in 2004. It was there that he drove for Colin Kolles, which would prove to be the connection that would help guide him to Formula 1. He finished second in the Formula Three series (behind teammate Lewis Hamilton) in 2005 before racing in the A1 Grand Prix and in Japan in 2006.
His performances in the different race series were enough to convince Kolles – who by then had moved on to run the Spyker team – that he was ready for Formula 1. He was the test driver for the team in 2006 and was promoted to the number two seat for 2007. However, he quickly showed his talent, outperforming his veteran teammate Christijan Albers before Albers was replaced. Overall, the Spyker team was at the rear of the Formula 1 pecking order in 2007, although Sutil was able to finish ahead of other classified drivers in certain races.
Sutil showed more promise in 2008 as the team was renamed Force India. The highlight of Sutil’s season was his strong run at the Monaco Grand Prix that year, when Sutil had climbed to fourth place before contact with Kimi Raikkonen forced him to retire. However, an unreliable car plagued Sutil as he was only able to finish seven of the 18 races.
2009 would be a breakout season for Sutil after he was retained by the Force Indian team. The season also saw a new team principal, as Force India chairman Vijay Mallya took over from Kolles, who would move on to start the HRT team in 2010. The team (and Sutil) would find the consistency they had been lacking in the past, failing to finish just five of the 17 races. Among the highlights were the Italian Grand Prix, where he would finish a career-best fourth after qualifying second, and qualifying third at the Brazilian Grand Prix later in the year.
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