Former Formula 1 driver Adrian Sutil has been arrested by German police during an international police operation, according to German media reports. The 42-year-old former driver for teams including Sauber is suspected of fraud and embezzlement. Sutil has not yet publicly responded to the charges.
Adrian Sutil competed in Formula 1 between 2007 and 2014, driving for the Spyker, Force India, and Sauber teams. The German was not particularly successful in the premier class; he never reached the podium. In fact, Sutil holds the record for the most F1 starts without a podium finish – 128 in total. His highest finish was fourth place in the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.
According to the German newspaper Bild Zeitung, Sutil is suspected of large-scale fraud and embezzlement. The former F1 driver was arrested last Thursday in Sindelfingen, a German city not far from Stuttgart. German media reports suggest it was an international operation, with simultaneous arrests also carried out in Monaco and Switzerland. The investigation is ongoing, and Sutil has not yet publicly responded to the charges.
Nightclub Incident
This week’s arrest of Sutil is not the first time the former F1 driver has been embroiled in controversy. In 2011, he was involved in an incident at a nightclub in Shanghai. Lotus investor Eric Lux was injured during the incident. A year later, Sutil received a suspended prison sentence of 18 months and a fine for the incident. Lewis Hamilton, a friend of Sutil at the time, was also present in the nightclub on the fateful evening, but was not involved in the incident.
