Former F1 driver arrested in international raid

Former Formula 1 driver Adrian Sutil has been arrested on suspicion of fraud and embezzlement during an international raid, according to reports in Germany.

Bild reports that Sutil, who raced in F1 from 2007 to 2014, was detained on Thursday morning by German police.

Sutil was arrested as part of a raid that took place simultaneously at three addresses in Monaco, Switzerland and Sindelfingen in Germany, with the 42-year-old found at the latter.

A spokesperson for the Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office said: ‘Several properties were searched in cooperation with the Baden-Wurttemberg State Criminal Police Office.’

According to investigators, Sutil is suspected of ‘joint fraud in a particularly serious case and joint embezzlement’.

An arrest warrant had been issued for the German, who it is now said is in pre-trial detention in a Baden-Württemberg prison.

At the time of writing, the former motorsport star and his lawyer have not commented publicly on the matter.

During his F1 career, Sutil raced for Skyker, Force India and Sauber, competing in 128 grand prix and holds the unwanted record of most career starts without a podium, a record he re-inherited this year after Nico Hulkenberg’s shock podium at the British Grand Prix.

Since leaving the sport, his motor racing career has been non-existent bar competing in the Ferrari Challenge Europe series in 2022 and 2023.

This is not Sutil’s first brush with the law however, with a previous controversy almost ending his F1 career back in 2011.

Whilst at a Shanghai nightclub, celebrating Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, Sutil was involved in an incident that left Lotus team executive Eric Lux with injuries from a champagne glass.

Sutil said he did not mean to cause the injuries, but was later convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and given an 18-month suspended sentence and a €200,000 (£175,000) fine.

The incident played a part in the driver losing his seat at Force India for the 2012 season but he returned to the grid the following year.

At the time, Sutil and Hamilton were good friends and the seven-timeworld champion was named as a defence witness for the case, but he did not appear at court, instead providing a written statement to say he did not see the incident.

Sutil subsequently ended their friendship, saying Hamilton was ‘not a man’ before adding: ‘Lewis is a coward, I don’t want to be friends with someone like that.’

As for matters on the track, the 2025 F1 season is coming to an end, with Britain’s Lando Norris having the chance to be crowned champion on Sunday at the Qatar Grand Prix.

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