Adrian Sutil | German Formula 1 Driver Profile

Adrian Sutil

Team: Force India
F1 Debut: 2007 - Australian Grand Prix

Adrian Sutil has an unusual background for an F1 driver since he actually started planning a career as a concert pianist. The musical German moved into motorsport when discovered karting in his mid-teens and he quickly rose through the junior categories. Sutil won every event in the 2002 Swiss Formula Ford Championship, and then moved into Formula Three where he became Lewis Hamilton's teammate in the Euroseries. Although Adrian was Hamilton's closest rival for the 2005 championship he was a fair way behind Lewis in the final standings.

Sutil made his Formula One debut in 2007 with the newly formed Spyker team. His speed was very impressive with the small outfit and he comprehensively outperformed teammate Christjian Albers. However, Sutil made a lot of mistakes during his first year and this appears to be a trend that has continued throughout his Grand Prix career. He has a reputation for being quick but is regularly caught up in avoidable accidents.

Sutil scored Spyker's only point near the end of the 2007 season and was retained by Force India's management who took over the team a few months later. Sutil was unable to score any points during his first year with Force India but the team's form improved dramatically in 2009 thanks to a car that was aerodynamically quick in a straight line. This enabled Adrian to score at Monza, and he will be hoping for another big improvement to challenge for podiums in 2010.

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