No 2012 contract yet for Sutil

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Forza Bianchi

Forza Bianchi

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2011
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Adrian Sutil's current contract runs out at the end of this year and he is yet to sign a contract to race in 2012. Although there are other unconfirmed drivers, most of those currently race for smaller teams. I am curious as to why Sutil hasn't resigned with Force India yet.

Could he be speaking to bigger teams? He signed his 2011 contract very late last year because he was in discussions with bigger teams, including Ferrari. It was suspected that he was after a 2011 drive with Renault or Mercedes. It's possible that Sutil is doing the same thing again this year, targeting Heidfeld's seat at Renault (even though this sounds unlikely).

Perhaps Sutil wants to sign with Force India, but the team are refusing to sign a contract. I am confident that if one of their existing drivers were to leave, Hulkenburg would be their replacement. But what if the team are secretly preparing Hulkenburg to replace Sutil next year? Even with the Sutil-Lux case, it's hard to imagine Force India wanting to replace a driver of Sutil's calibre.

Force India claims that they will make their announcements in December, which suggests that they will assess their three drivers at the end of the season. I'm not too convinced - they are taking a huge risk leaving di Resta without a 2012 contract. They'd be stupid to let him go to another team. Therefore, I believe they reason they haven't signed Di Resta is because he is speaking to other teams like Mercedes. So what's their reason for not signing Sutil?

Any ideas about what might be going on?
 
Once again Forza, you've come up with the best thread of the day. You're doing a good bit of research.

Sutil's stock was higher during the past couple of seasons. The arrival of several promising rookies has made him look rather ordinary and unfortunately, he could be in danger of sliding down a slippery slope. Of course, the biggest threat is always one's team mate and di Resta has cast a bit of a shadow over him. Being perceived to struggle against a rookie is never good news and being perceived to lose to any team mate can leave people wondering if the loser is not in the top half of the best drivers on the grid, provoking the 'always going to be a number two' type of reaction. Obviously this perception is more likely in the lower teams, since the top teams naturally tend to be able to afford the top drivers.

In a midfield team, any driver needs to excel in order to justify moving up by attracting attention; and right now Sutil - so promising when he started - is potentially in trouble and needs to have a very strong second half to this season, otherwise he is unlikely to ever be more than an 'also-ran'.
 
My honest opinion on sutil is that he isnt going to get far at Force India, a team he has been with since the Midland days as a test driver. The whole Lux broken glass bottle to throat thing obviously may harm his carear too. Hey just looking it up and there is a section on his wikipedia page all about it <doh>

Anyway he needs a fresh restart and that may have to come as a Test/reserve at Mercedes
 
Here are my rather lengthy thoughts on Sutil (was just about to blog this):

Just a couple of seasons ago Adrian Sutil was touted as a star of the future and was reportedly linked with a McLaren seat alongside his friend Lewis Hamilton. Fast forward to this season and he and Force India have been nowhere near Hamilton.

Sutil is in his fifth season with the Spyker/Force India team but in that time he has scored a modest 71 points, and only on four occasions this season has he finished in the top ten. His trouble this year is inconsistency- last season he had six consecutive points finishes, in 2011 he hasn’t even strung two together.

So, is the problem with Sutil or with Force India? Well, qualifying suggests another weakness for Sutil: on seven occasions out of 11, he’s been out-qualified by teammate Paul Di Resta. Considering that the Scot hasn’t raced in a single seater series for over four years that is an embarrassment for an established driver.
But there is another side to Sutil’s personality that has hampered him this season. In a Shanghai night club he cut Renault owner Genii’s CEO Eric Lux in the neck, and has had grievous bodily harm charges pressed against him. Surely, this must have been a distraction in the initial part of the season.

One positive is that the erratic, crash-happy side of Sutil has been somewhat eradicated. Although incidents in Korea last year and Canada this year prove that he’s not entirely free from errors.

However, Force India’s poor showing must take at least some of the blame for Sutil’s struggles. There has been no noticeable improvement on last season, and certainly not the slightest sign of any repetition of the tremendous pace they showed at Belgium and Italy in 2009. What’s more the team still seem capable of making tactical howlers. One such cock-up was a completely botched couple of pitstops in Germany last year where the wrong tyres were put on the wrong car.

So, is the reason why Sutil hasn’t progressed up the grid that Force India has failed to deliver? Certainly a lower midfield car doesn’t allow the talent that’s obviously there to shine out to the top teams (evidence of his true performance came with his 6th place in Germany). Furthermore, most of the top teams have contracted drivers for next year and after that glass incident he’s hardly going to find himself at Renault.

It seems that Sutil may now be destined for midfield anonymity.
 
Some excellent posts. <ok>

Sutil would've been a good fit for Ferrari, better than Massa and I doubt there'd be friction between him and Alonso if Ferrari are worried about the chemistry. He's not had his best season this year but has still comfortably outpointed Di Resta. I believe Force India's drivers are a class above the team, but the teams above them have all confirmed their drivers (many with much less talent than Sutil and Di Resta) leaving them in a position of luxury where they can delay their decision.
 
Force India must be aiming to do what Sauber is doing, 2 youngish drivers to work around.

And he still has a court case to sort out for GBH.
 
I remember his Korea 2010 drive. <laugh>

He was battling with Sauber's the whole race!

I think he is keeping his options open at the moment, just waiting until everyone at the top teams get confirmed or whatever.
 
I definetly think Hulkenberg is getting primed for a seat very soon (he deserves one) and Sutil may be the one to give it to him. Out of the two FI drivers Di Resta more likely to keep his seat, Sutil has been there too long and hasn't made huge progress, which is a shame. I can't imagine Hulkenberg getting a seat from anywhere else.
 
Sutil is coming back on form. In the last few races he's either been in or threatened a top 10 finish. I've picked him to perform very well in the next 2 races. He could be a suprise shout for a podium.
 
I can imagine he could be eyeing up a Renault seat for next year, as I believe it will be confirmed before the end of the year that Kubica will not be returning.
 
In every season there is a waiting game played usually to see what a particular driver is going to do and Kubica could be the reason for this season game
 
Cowboys From Hell said:
Kubica is 1 month away from being able to return. Read it on the bbc earlier.
Click to expand...

In the Simulator, so I guess 2 months until he comes back full time. We could see Robert back at Japan-Korea and given plenty of milege to get rid of some of those cobwebs and ready for next season ;)
 
Stephen Lickorish said:
One positive is that the erratic, crash-happy side of Sutil has been somewhat eradicated. Although incidents in Korea last year and Canada this year prove that he&#8217;s not entirely free from errors.
Click to expand...

Hmm, perhaps he hasn't. That Q2 Spa shunt was a rookie error and cost him a very good grid spot. That certainly hasn't done his chances of moving up next year any good at all.
 
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