Vijay Mallya: Adrian Sutil secure in Force India until proven guilty – Formula 1 news
Force India team principal and owner Vijay Mallya has said that the team will fully back Adrian Sutil in his case against Renault team boss Eric Lux after the Chinese Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Mallya added that Force India will back Sutil until the German is proven guilty of a physical attack on Eric. He said if he is proven guilty, then the team will look to Sutil’s contract.
Mallya stated, “If and when he [Adrian Sutil] is charged, then I will assess the situation. My position is very clear - if we at all receive a formal complaint, or there is some formal legal inquiry in any country, we will take appropriate action at that
time. But we can't be presumptive.”
The Indian millionaire added that there is no formal complaint filed in any country so taking any action right now will be unnecessary.
Mallya assured that Sutil’s contract is not under fire until something is proven against him.
“Contracts do not supersede misconduct. Unless I am convinced there is misconduct then the contract shall remain. I'm not willing to jump to any conclusions based on a press release. There is a due process of law,” added Mallya.
After the third Grand Prix of the 2011 Formula 1 season in China, where Adrian Sutil finished 15th on the table, the German physically assaulted Eric Lux in a Chinese bar.
Sutil stated that whatever happened in the Chinese bar is unintentional and he will do everything to clear his name from the case so that he can concentrate on the races to come.
Sutil has been outperformed in the first five races of the 2011 Formula 1 season by his much younger and rookie teammate, Paul Di Resta, which might be the reason for the German losing it in the Chinese bar.
Whatever might be the case, Eric Lux is still due to file a proper case against the German. Until then, Sutil is free to drive a Formula 1 car for the Force India team.
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