Adrian Sutil reached a landmark 100 grand prix starts in the last round at the Hungaroring.
He is the 65th driver in F1 history to reach a century of starts and, unusually, has made them all with the same team – although it did change names at the end of his first season.
Sutil made his F1 debut in 2007 with Spyker, who had taken over the the entry of Midland which was previously Jordan. But the Dutch car manufacturer scrapped its F1 programme after one season, selling it to Vijay Mallya who rebraded it as Force India.
Sutil scored Spyker’s only point in the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix in 2007, but the following year Force India failed to score at all. But Sutil came close: he was running fourth in Monaco when, just nine laps from the flag, Kimi Raikkonen missed his braking point for the chicane and ploughed into Sutil’s car, ending his race.
The VJM02 Sutil campaigned in 2009 was a more competitive machine, particularly on high-speed tracks. He qualified on the front row at Monza and finished fourth – still his best qualifying and race results to date.
He became a more regular visitor to the points in 2010 and 2011. Sutil ended the latter year on a high with a strong drive to sixth in Brazil. But events earlier in the season had put his F1 career in jeopardy.
Sutil had been involved in an altercation in a nightclub in Shanghai following the Chinese Grand Prix. He was later charge with wounding Eric Lux – head of Lotus team owners Genii – and was handed a suspended jail sentence in January 2012.
Force India had already announced Sutil’s place had been taken by Nico Hulkenberg for 2012. But Hulkenberg moved on to Sauber in 2013 and although Jules Bianchi initially looked like a shoo-in for the vacancy at Force India, Sutil was rehired after the pair tested for the team in February.
Sutil impressed on his return by leading a race for the first time in Australia and finishing seventh. Although he suffered some bad luck in subsequent races he has had three more points finishes this year including fifth in Monaco.
Here’s a look at Sutil’s F1 career so far in pictures.
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Images ?é?® Spyker, Force India, Jamey Price, Singapore GP/Sutton
David not Coulthard (@)
8th August 2013, 11:06
Reminds me of those days when I often mistook a VJM01 for an MP4-23!
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
8th August 2013, 11:45
What this table of pictures shows is that Sutil has not had a particularly exciting F1 career.
jh1806 (@jh1806)
8th August 2013, 11:48
That 2009 FI is a great looking car – very simple and clean.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
8th August 2013, 11:53
@jh1806
yes, I like it, they seem to go for simple clean lines. I like this years car as well. Could mix up the livery a bit though….
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
8th August 2013, 17:42
Even though my eye has got accustomed to current crop of cars, I still like to compare pre-2009 cars with post-2009 cars in such galleries and former ones look like real racing cars, while current are just a joke.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
9th August 2013, 8:14
I thought the 2010 cars were great, the Ferrari F10 I loved. The 2013 Marussia is a piece of moving art…even when its on fire ;-D
No round-up today?
Manox (@marussi)
8th August 2013, 12:53
i wonder how well Bianchi would do in the FI against Di Resta
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
8th August 2013, 12:55
Bianchi would beat him without even driving to his full potential. DIR don’t deserve a seat purely based on his attitude toward his team. Its like a child making fun of his parents, but the parents give him sweets.
celeste (@celeste)
8th August 2013, 22:51
Here I thought I didn´t like Di Resta… You just beat me ;)
John H (@john-h)
8th August 2013, 16:18
I’v always quite liked Sutil, but when I tough about his career three incidents sprang to mind:
1. Those glasses (see above)
2. His camp jogging at Montreal
3. Prompting Trulli to make a fool of himself
I just don’t recall any sparks of magic driving wise. Perhaps that says more about my memory, I don’t know.
Nick.UK (@)
8th August 2013, 17:13
@john-h How about Monaco 2008. He was hugely unlucky that day after putting in an excellent drive. I feel a photo from that event should have been included here.
John H (@john-h)
9th August 2013, 23:07
Ah yes, that should have been number 4.
I remember the emotion as he got out of the car, I think he won a number of fans that race, myself included at the time. Still think probably his greatest moment was the Trulli press conference though!
andae23 (@andae23)
8th August 2013, 17:47
That wet Monaco GP in 2008, when he was running fourth before being shunted by Raikkonen at the new chicane – that’s the only one that really stands out. But I agree, he has had a good and steady career, with too few highlights.
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
8th August 2013, 21:22
@john-h Malaysia 2011 I think when he kept Lewis behind him for almost 20 laps in a very superior McLaren. In another race he had kept Vettel in an extremely dominant RBR behind him for 7 laps, more than the 3 drivers behind him combined. I think that sums of Sutil for me. An extremely good defensive driver, but really lacking that skill to take the offensive. Here is where FI miss Hulkenberg the most who clearly has pace and speed and does tend to (in my view) do better on faster tracks as opposed to Di Resta who seems suited to slower ones.
Jack (@jmc200)
8th August 2013, 20:28
I like Adrian, clearly his results don’t show his talent, in a great car he get podiums no problem. A feisty over-taker, and brilliant wet weather driver. A very competent F1 driver. However, if I were to look more critically, he has done twice as many grand prix as his younger team mate (100 to 49) and yet Paul always seems to be much more likely to get the car home in one piece and has made more of his opportunities (Adrian was no where at SPA 09, and gave away a podium after driving into his crew in Italy) Arguably Adrian’s career is on borrowed time but I wouldn’t mind at all if he was on the grid next year, with Bianchi, or more likely Calado, providing Di Resta leaves, as he might.
Carlitox (@carlitox)
8th August 2013, 20:44
To date he’s the only F1 driver I’ve met personally when he came to Uruguay (his father was born here, hence his non-typically German name) to a press conference. He was very kind, willing to talk, he even took a photo with me twice (my phone was crap LOL). As a driver, he reminds me of Webber when he was in Jaguar. He’s really fast an in a good day, he can bring a great result. Hope he can remain for some more time. He deserves some podiums or even a win.
Carlitox (@carlitox)
8th August 2013, 20:44
BTW I had forgotten how awesome a car that Spyker was. Aesthetically, of course.
Alex Brown (@splittimes)
9th August 2013, 1:44
He’s never caught my attention, and normally I’d come down negatively against him, but your first hand knowledge usurps my heresay!