Adrian Sutil to appeal conviction for assaulting F1 executive
Former Force India driver Adrian Sutil. Photo courtesy of the Sahara Force India Formula One Team
FORMER Force India driver Adrian Sutil is to lodge an appeal against his conviction for injuring F1 executive Eric Lux.
The 29-year-old German was convicted last month of causing grievous bodily harm in a nightclub incident in Shanghai after the Chinese Grand Prix in April last year.
He was given an 18-month suspended sentence and 200,000 euro (£167,000) fine for injuring Mr Lux, chief executive of the then Renault team’s owners Genii Capital with a champagne glass, causing a wound to his neck that needed 24 stitches.
Confirming the appeal, Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmerman said “important circumstances” had not been considered.
He said: “We have decided on this step because we are convinced this judge must not oppose, especially the video tapes which from our point of view are quite obvious and have not been properly considered.”
Meanwhile trial prosecutor Nicole Selzam has also launched an appeal with the courts, pushing for a tougher sentence.
Selzam wants Sutil to serve the sentence demanded at the initial trial, which was 21 months suspended, with a 300,000 euro (£250,000) fine.
Should there now be a re-trial, it is not yet clear if McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, who was with Sutil on the night in question following the Briton’s grand prix victory in Shanghai earlier that day, will attend.
Following representations made by his solicitor, Hamilton did not appear last month on the grounds of his commitments to McLaren, and instead his statement was read out in court.
The 27-year-old’s failure to attend outraged Sutil who has since accused him of being “a coward”, “not a man”, insisting they were no longer friends.
It is understood Hamilton will attend any re-trial, providing it does not clash with his commitments.
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