Adrian Sutil

Force India-Mercedes was introduced to the world after the take over and revamp of the former Spyker team. After four seasons in Formula1, Sutil is no longer a rookie. He now has the hopes of a lot of followers spattered around the world. Force India has shown trust in Sutil by signing him for the fourth season instead of looking elsewhere for younger or fresher drivers.

He is said to have as much talent with a piano as behind the wheel of a car. Meet Adrian Sutil, one of three drivers who started their F1 careers in the 2007 season. The 26-year-old German stormed to the Japanese F3 Championship in his maiden season last year and was immediately noticed as a potential F1 driver. Spyker were looking for new drivers when Sutil came their way.

All through 2006, Sutil was racing in Japan and displayed strong potential. He also took part in the Macau F3 GP and had one appearance in the Japanese Super GT. In the same year, he broke through into F1. Last January, he was confirmed as the third test driver for MF1 along with Markus Winkelhock and Giorgio Mondini.

Sutil first appeared for the team as the third driver at the European GP and followed it up with appearances at the French and Japanese Grand Prix. By the time his third race came about, the team had become Spyker F1. At the end of the year, he was promoted to second driver for 2007, having been signed on for a multi-year contract.

He is understandably excited about the prospects and says, "It will be my first season in Formula One and I can't wait for the first Grand Prix in Melbourne! It will be a great moment for me." And without any lofty goals, he is ready to do the hard yards of the trade initially. Although he has been through this, he still hasn’t raised expectations wildly. For this season, he is only looking as far as the first race. "Hopefully to have a good race straight away, with no problems. I want to finish for sure, but we will see where we are in qualifying and then I can say where I want to be in the race," he said.

The 2008 season saw Force India F1 step into the flurry, bringing to the sport the much required viewership in India and South Asia. Force India enlisted Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella to drive for them in the inaugural season, pitting one experienced and one relatively new driver alongside each other. The first season was baby steps for the team and Sutil managed to finish only 7 out of 18 races. He did not score points in any of the races, and the total tally for Force India was 0 at the end of the year too.

The Second season, i.e. 2009 saw major improvements in the car and Sutil also looked to be finding his groove by mid-season. With four DNFs in the whole season, the car looked stable but not a pace-setter. Sutil consistently finished after 10th, and thus was not able to achieve any Championship points. The only flash in the pan was the Italian Grand Prix in which Sutil battled hard to finish 4th to earn his sole 5 points in the season.

The 2010 season was a power packed one for both Sutil and Force India. Sutil finished 11th scoring points at par with veteran Rubens Barrichello. He was key in placing Force India 7th in the Constructor’s championship losing in on 6th by a single point. With the team improving in leaps and bounds, the entire F1 community has high hopes for the German this season.