Spyker

File:Spyker MF1 Team.jpg
Full name	Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team
Base	Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Noted drivers	Adrian Sutil Christijan Albers Markus Winkelhock Sakon Yamamoto
Previous name	Midland F1 Racing
Subsequent name	Force India F1 Team
Formula One World Championship career
Debut	2007 Australian Grand Prix
Races competed	17
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
Final race	2007 Brazilian Grand Prix

Spyker F1 Team was a Formula One team that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship, and was created by Spyker Cars after their buyout of the short-lived Midland F1 team. The change to the Spyker name was accompanied by a switch in racing livery from the red and white previously used by Midland, to an orange and silver scheme—already seen on the Spyker Spyder GT2-R—orange being the national colour and the auto racing colour of the Netherlands. At the end of the 2007 season the team was sold and renamed Force India F1.^[1]

Background[link]

Although created in 2006, the team's roots can be traced back to the year 1991, when it was founded as Jordan Grand Prix. The Silverstone-based squad and facilities were bought by the Midland group in 2005 and re-named Midland F1 in 2006, before being sold to Spyker Cars towards the end of the 2006 season.

The Buyout of Midland F1[link]

The Midland F1 car livery after the purchase by Spyker

Rumours had been floating about in the paddock throughout the mid-season about the possible sale of the team, less than two years after Alex Shnaider originally bought it from Eddie Jordan. Reports suggested a price tag of $128m, and that Shnaider was seriously considering the possibility of the sale. Formula One teams had become more valuable, because no more teams could enter after 2008, with the maximum of 12 places already filled.^[2]

On 9 September 2006, it was revealed that the team was sold to Spyker Cars, a Dutch manufacturer of hand-built cars.^[3] Spyker paid $106.6 million for the team.^[4] On September 10 ITV commentators said that both Shnaider and former consultant Johnny Herbert were no longer involved in the team since the announcement of the sale.^[5]

Former Midland drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro were retained for the remaining part of the 2006 season, while it was also confirmed at Spyker's debut race in China that Albers would be staying with the successor team for the 2007 season. As part of the purchase of Midland by Spyker, the cars had a revised livery for the final three races of 2006.^[6] The name of the team also changed to Spyker MF1 Racing, as FIA regulations preclude a change of a team's name during a season but do allow for a sponsor name to be added to the front.^{[citation needed]}

2007 season[link]

The previous team boss of Midland, Colin Kolles, remained as team principal into 2007. Michiel Mol became the new Director of F1 racing and member of the Spyker board, and Mike Gascoyne became the Chief Technology Officer from the end of the 2006 season.^[7]

A Spyker in 2007 livery

The team used customer Ferrari engines in 2007, replacing the Toyota units, which went to the Williams team. Although the team remained based in the UK, it chose to register under the Dutch motor racing authority and therefore run under the Dutch flag during 2007, reflecting its new ownership.

For the second race driver, Spyker signed one of their 2006 third drivers, Adrian Sutil, to drive for the team in 2007.^[8] The official FIA entry list for 2007 was posted on various websites on December 4, 2006, and on the list the Spyker F1 Team was assigned car numbers 20 and 21, but only Christijan Albers' name was made official on the entry list, with the second seat, and car number 21 left TBA, since Sutil had not been confirmed at the time. However, the car numbers were swapped inside the team as Albers wanted to drive a car with an odd number, hence Albers (and later Winkelhock and Yamamoto) raced with number 21 and Sutil 20. Spyker signed four test and reserve drivers for the 2007 season: Adrián Vallés, Fairuz Fauzy, Giedo van der Garde and Markus Winkelhock.^[9]

In March, Spyker announced a sponsor deal with Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties, two companies from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The official name of the entrant during the season was Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team.

On July 10, Albers was released from his Spyker contract, due to a lack of sponsorship money, which would have compromised the team's development programme. Mol described it as "one of the toughest decisions of my career".^[10] Despite former Red Bull Racing driver Christian Klien testing for the team on July 12, 2007,^[11] Albers' replacement for the 2007 European Grand Prix was Winkelhock.^[12]

During the 2007 European Grand Prix, Winkelhock became the only driver to lead a Grand Prix in a Spyker, due to the team's tyre selection. However, Winkelhock did not keep his race drive as this went to Sakon Yamamoto.

In August, the new B-Spec Spyker model, which the team hoped to use at the 2007 Turkish Grand Prix, failed the crucial rear crash test which is set by the FIA. All cars must pass these tests to be allowed to race.^[13] However, a few days later it was confirmed that the car had passed the crash test in time to compete in the Italian Grand Prix.^[14]

Spyker during the 2007 season

On September 30 at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, the team scored its first championship point. Driver Sutil finished 9th on the track, but was promoted to 8th place and into the points scoring positions when stewards ruled post-race that Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi had overtaken Sutil under a yellow flag on lap 55; Liuzzi was subsequently given a 25 second penalty that dropped his time below Sutil's.

On August 14, Spyker Cars announced that it might need to sell all or part of the team due to a potential split of the team from its parent company.^[15] The team was sold to a consortium named "Orange India" led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur (and existing board member) Michiel Mol after approval by Spyker's shareholders. Mallya attended the Chinese Grand Prix as team owner.^[16] The team was renamed Force India for the 2008 season.^[1]

Complete Formula One results[link]

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
2007	Spyker F8-VII Spyker F8-VIIB	Ferrari V8	B		AUS	MAL	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	EUR	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	JPN	CHN	BRA	1	10th
				Adrian Sutil	17	Ret	15	13	Ret	Ret	14	17	Ret	Ret	17	21	19	14	8	Ret	Ret
				Christijan Albers	Ret	Ret	14	14	19	Ret	15	Ret	15
				Markus Winkelhock										Ret
				Sakon Yamamoto											Ret	20	20	17	12	17	Ret

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Spyker F1

Formula One portal

• Spyker F1 Team Official Website
• Official Spyker F1 Fansite

v t e Spyker F1 Personnel: Michiel Mol | Colin Kolles | James Key | Mike Gascoyne Drivers: Adrian Sutil | Christijan Albers | Sakon Yamamoto | Markus Winkelhock Formula One cars: F8-VII

Christijan Albers Born (1979-04-16) 16 April 1979 (age 33) Formula One World Championship career Nationality Dutch Active years 2005–2007 Teams Minardi, Midland, Spyker Races 46 Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 4 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 2005 Australian Grand Prix Last race 2007 British Grand Prix 2007 position 25th (0 points) Christijan Albers Nationality Dutch Born (1979-04-16) 16 April 1979 (age 33) Eindhoven (Netherlands) 2012 Le Mans Series Debut season 2009 Current team Kolles Starts 5 Wins 0 Poles 0 Fastest laps 0 Previous series 2008 2005–07 2001–04, 2008 2001–02, 2004 2000 1999 1998–99 1998–99 1997 American Le Mans Series Formula One DTM Formula One testing International Formula 3000 Belcar British F3 German F3 Formula Ford 1800 Benelux Championship titles 1999 1997 German F3 Formula Ford 1800 Benelux

Christijan Albers ( Christijan Albers (help·info)) (born 16 April 1979 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch racing driver. After success in the DTM he drove in Formula One from 2005 until the 2007 British Grand Prix, shortly after which he was dropped by his Spyker F1 team.^[1] In 2008, he returned to the DTM-series as a driver for the Audi Futurecom TME-team.

Personal[link]

Christijan is the son of former rallycross ace and Porsche 911 Carrera campaigner André Albers, whose best overall result ever was to win the 1979 Dutch International Rallycross Championship (GT Division). They are not related to their compatriot Marcel Albers, who was killed in a British F3 accident at Thruxton in 1992.

Christijan is married to Liselore Kooijman. Their wedding took place on 11 November 2006 in Amsterdam.^[2] He resides in Monaco.

Early career[link]

Albers began kart racing at a young age, winning the Dutch National championship in 1997. That same year, he was crowned Formula Ford 1800 champion in both Netherlands and Belgium. He also participated in the Renault Megane Marlboro Masters series. In 1998, he moved up to the German Formula Three series, winning the championship in 1999 behind 6 wins and ten poles.

In 2000, Albers raced in the International Formula 3000 championship as team-mate to Mark Webber. He failed to score a point, but team boss Paul Stoddart later signed him again. He also raced in European Formula Racing.

DTM[link]

Beginning in 2001, Albers raced in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Mercedes-Benz, and graduated from a privately run team to the works AMG outfit in 2003 after the departure from the series of Uwe Alzen. He was instantly a front-runner, finishing runner-up in 2003 with a season-high 4 wins, and challenging DTM veteran and multiple champion Bernd Schneider for the title all the way up to the final race. In 2004 he again challenged for the championship lead for the most of the season but eventually finished third.

Results
Season 2001
- Team: Mercedes-Benz
- Points: 19, Position 14
Season 2002
- Team: Mercedes-Benz
- Points: 5, Position 12
Season 2003
- Team: AMG-Mercedes
- Points: 64, Position 2
- Wins: Adria, Nürburgring, Norisring, Zandvoort
Season 2004
- Team: AMG-Mercedes
- Points: 50, Position 3
- Wins: Estoril

Formula One[link]

Minardi[link]

Albers driving for Minardi at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix.

While racing in the DTM, Albers continued to be a test and reserve driver for Minardi's Formula One interests, and has also piloted the team's two-seater F1 cars. In November 2004, he set the fastest time at a Misano di Gera d'Adda Minardi test session. He was chosen by the team to drive in the Formula One World Championship in 2005. In the 2005 United States Grand Prix he gained his first championship points with a fifth place finish, in a race where only six drivers started.

Midland/Spyker F1[link]

Albers driving the Midland M16 during the 2006 United States Grand Prix.

On 31 October 2005 Albers was confirmed as Midland's first official Formula One driver. Midland, the renamed Jordan team, made their debut in the 2006 Formula One season.

Albers started the 2006 season well, out-pacing Midland teammate Tiago Monteiro. However, during the first few races, Midland found themselves battling with the Super Aguri team, particularly Takuma Sato. At the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, Albers found himself being crashed into by Yuji Ide and sent into a series of spectacular rolls. Fortunately, he was unharmed. Ide was reprimanded by the race stewards for his part in the incident.

Albers driving at Silverstone after Spyker's purchase of the team.

Albers driving for Spyker F1 at the 2007 British Grand Prix.

After initial confusion over Albers' plans for 2007 after the takeover of MF1 by Spyker Cars, it was eventually confirmed that he would be driving for the Spyker F1 team in 2007.

It was later found out that Albers signed a contract with Midland F1 to remain with the team prior to the sell to Spyker. Albers' personal sponsors had major influences in Spyker buying the Midland F1 team.^[3]

In early 2007 he was outperformed by rookie team-mate Adrian Sutil. At Magny-Cours he ignored the lollipop telling him not to leave the pits during a pitstop, driving off with part of the fuel rig still attached. Albers expressed relief that nobody was hurt,^[4] but he received a €5,000 penalty for dangerous driving. Spyker technical director Mike Gascoyne commented that he was mystified by the mistake,^[5] and Niki Lauda described the incident as the stupidest thing he had ever seen in F1.^[6]

On 10 July 2007 he was released from his Spyker contract, due to a lack of sponsorship money, which would have compromised the team's development programme. Team owner Michiel Mol described it as "one of the toughest decisions of my career".^[1][7] His replacement for the 2007 European Grand Prix was former Spyker test driver Markus Winkelhock.^[8] Sakon Yamamoto then raced for Spyker for the rest of the year.

Albers returned with the Spyker team for the Rotterdam street racing event in the Netherlands, on the 18 / 19 August.^[9]

Return to DTM[link]

Albers driving an Audi at Norisring in 2008.

Christijan Albers returned to the DTM-series in December 2007 as the Dutchman was invited by the Audi-team of Futurecom TME for a week of testing in Jerez de la Frontera.^[10] He tested for this team again on the Mugello Circuit in early March.

Christijan Albers was confirmed as a race driver for the Futurecom TME race team for 2008. He raced alongside Katherine Legge in a 2006 Specification Audi A4 DTM.^[11]

Albers is the Netherlands' most successful driver in the DTM series, finishing as runner-up in the 2003 championship.

Sportscar Racing[link]

It was announced on 9 October 2008 that Albers would be racing with Audi Sport North America in the American Le Mans Series. He piloted the #1 R10 TDI, partnered with Emanuele Pirro at Laguna Seca, the ALMS' final round. This was another step by Audi to bring youth to their Le Mans programs, following Marcel Fassler's two races in the R10. He finished this race in second place behind the #2 car from the same team.

He moved into the Le Mans Series for the 2009 season, moving to the customer Audi team, run by Colin Kolles.

Racing record[link]

Career summary[link]

Complete International Formula 3000 results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete DTM results[link]

(key)

Complete Formula One results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete American Le Mans Series results[link]

24 Hours of Le Mans results[link]

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2009	LMP1	15	M	Audi R10 TDI Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Kolles	Christian Bakkerud Giorgio Mondini	360	9th	9th
2010	LMP1	15	M	Audi R10 TDI Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Kolles	Christian Bakkerud Oliver Jarvis	331	DNF	DNF

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christijan Albers

• Official website
• Christijan Albers career statistics at Driver Database

v t e Midland F1 Racing Founder: Alex Shnaider Drivers: Christijan Albers | Tiago Monteiro Test Drivers: Markus Winkelhock | Giorgio Mondini | Adrian Sutil | Alexandre Prémat | Ernesto Viso | Roman Rusinov | Max Biaggi Formula One car: M16

v t e Spyker F1 Personnel: Michiel Mol | Colin Kolles | James Key | Mike Gascoyne Drivers: Adrian Sutil | Christijan Albers | Sakon Yamamoto | Markus Winkelhock Formula One cars: F8-VII

Adrian Sutil

Sutil at the 2011 Italian Grand Prix
Born	(1983-01-11) 11 January 1983 (age 29)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	German
Active years	2007–2011
Teams	Spyker, Force India
Races	90
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	95
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First race	2007 Australian Grand Prix
Last race	2011 Brazilian Grand Prix
2011 position	9th (42 pts)

Adrian Sutil (German pronunciation: [ˈadɾjan zuˈtil]; born 11 January 1983 in Starnberg, West Germany) is a German Formula One racing driver.

Biography[link]

Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan.^[1] He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds (75 kilograms) and is 6 feet (183 centimeters) tall. A talented pianist,^[2] Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002. He won all ten rounds of the season from pole and added five wins in the Formula Masters Austria championship.^[1] Sutil speaks fluent German, English, Spanish and a little Italian. He is friends with fellow German driver Nico Rosberg.

Formula BMW & Formula Three[link]

When Sutil moved up to the Formula BMW ADAC championship in 2003 he finished in sixth place in the series, but with no wins. The following season he stepped up to the Formula 3 Euroseries with Colin Kolles' team. Although he scored only twice, the connection he made with Kolles would prove useful in the future. He moved to the ASM team at the final round of the year.^[1]

Sutil stayed with ASM for 2005 and was joined by British driver Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton won more races than Sutil, but the German was runner-up to Hamilton and the Briton's only serious competitor in the championship and at the prestigious Marlboro Masters of Formula Three at Zandvoort.^[1]

Sutil missed the last two rounds of the 2005 Euroseries after joining A1 Team Germany for the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series. He raced for them at three events in Portugal, Australia and Dubai, his best result being two twelfth places.^[1]

He spent 2006 racing in Japan and won the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. He showed a very strong performance all season. He also finished third in the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix and made a one-off appearance in Japanese Super GT.^[1]

Formula One[link]

2006[link]

Sutil testing for Midland F1 Racing in February 2006

That year also saw Sutil enter Formula One. In January, he was confirmed as a one of the three test drivers for the new Midland F1 Racing team, along with Markus Winkelhock and Giorgio Mondini. This came thanks to his connections with Colin Kolles, who was then running the team.

Sutil appeared for the team as the third driver at the European, French and Japanese Grands Prix. By the time of his third appearance the outfit had been bought by Spyker Cars. At the end of the year he was promoted to second driver for the 2007 season, having been signed on a multi-year contract by the Spyker MF1 Team.^[3] In an interview with the Official Formula One website, Sutil's first 2007 teammate, Christijan Albers, commented that "Adrian is a good driver and he will be quick this year, but as a driver you should always be pushing to the limits without thinking what the guy in the car next to you is doing. But Adrian will be a good team-mate and it looks as though he's going to be a big talent [for the future]".^[4]

2007[link]

Sutil driving a Spyker F8-VII at the 2007 French Grand Prix

During 2007, Sutil out-qualified and out-raced his team-mate Albers at all Grands Prix before the Dutchman was replaced by Sutil's countryman Markus Winkelhock, test driver for the team up until that time at the European Grand Prix. Sutil out-qualified Winkelhock, although the latter went on to lead the race and re-start after a sudden downpour. Winkelhock resumed his third driver role for the following grand prix at Hungary when Japanese driver Sakon Yamamoto took over the second team seat. Sutil out-performed Yamamoto in the race, passing Honda drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.

In the Hungarian Grand Prix Sutil was the first Spyker driver in 2007 to beat another running classified finisher, Honda's Rubens Barrichello.^[5]

For the Turkish Grand Prix, a B-spec car was expected for the Spyker team but it failed a rear crash test and Sutil continued to use the older spec car. After fuel pressure problems he was forced to start the race from the pits and finished five laps behind. At Monza, despite the introduction of the B-spec Spyker F8-VII and due to the nature of the circuit, the Spykers were largely uncompetitive once again and Sutil finished 19th, again only in front of his team-mate.

Sutil driving for Spyker at the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix

At the Belgian Grand Prix, the strengths of the B-spec car were fully evident with both Sutil and Yamamoto setting competitive times through the three practice sessions culminating in Sutil qualifying only half a second behind 16th placed man Vitantonio Liuzzi. During the race, Sutil passed the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button as well as the Red Bull's David Coulthard, Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi and Williams driver Alexander Wurz. He ran as high as 12th before finishing 14th. He was highly praised for his efforts by both team and media.^[6]

Two weeks later in the rain at Fuji Speedway, Japan, it seemed Sutil had narrowly missed an opportunity to score Spyker's first ever point, briefly holding 8th position on the penultimate lap of the high-attrition race after Nick Heidfeld retired his BMW, but was almost immediately passed by fellow backmarker Vitantonio Liuzzi in the Toro Rosso and finished 9th. After the race it was found that Liuzzi had overtaken Sutil under yellow flags, and the 25-second penalty for the Italian promoted Sutil to the final points position. Toro Rosso appealed the decision, but the penalty was upheld.^[7]

Sutil driving Spyker F8-VII B at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, Spyker's last race

Spyker were not competitive in the final two races of the year, neither of which Sutil finished. He has been praised by many for his performances in the 2007 Formula One Championship. Despite driving the most uncompetitive car of the year, the German rookie impressed by not only dominating all of his teammates in both qualifying and race conditions, but also by challenging other drivers with superior equipment.

2008[link]

Sutil driving for Force India at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix

Sutil continued with the team in 2008 under its new identity as Force India, after briefly entertaining the possibility of a drive with McLaren or Williams.^[8] The first two races of the season ended with mechanical failures.

While running in a very strong fourth position in Monaco with six laps remaining, he was hit in the rear by fifth placed Kimi Räikkönen who lost control of his car while braking for the harbour chicane. A crash a few laps earlier had resulted in the safety car being deployed, with Sutil losing his considerable lead over the Finnish driver. Sutil's car suffered damage to the rear diffuser, and he was forced to retire.^[9] Mike Gascoyne called for Räikkönen to be punished over the incident. No punishment, however, was given.^[10] However, Sutil had overtaken three cars under yellow flags and according to steward Paul Gutjahr, should he have reached the chequered flag, he would have been given a 25-second penalty which would have dropped him out of the point-scoring positions.^[11]

On 17 October Force India announced they would keep Sutil for the 2009 season.^[12]

2009[link]

Sutil and the Force India team started the year with a real optimism of points scoring finshes when the European part of the season started after the first four races.^[13] BBC commentator Martin Brundle expressed his personal view that:

In Australia, after starting from 16th on the grid, Sutil progressed steadily through the field to finish just outside the points in 9th place. In Malaysia, he qualified 19th and finished 15th when the race was stopped on lap 33 due to torrential rain.

Sutil driving for Force India at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

In China, Sutil was running in 6th place with 6 laps remaining when he lost control of his Force India – due to aquaplaning – resulting in him crashing and forcing him to retire.

In Bahrain, Sutil was penalised for blocking Mark Webber during the first qualifying session. He personally walked into Mark's room to apologise for the incident.

In Spain, after running wide at the first corner of the first lap Sutil rejoined the track only to hit the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. The Italian had also run wide and was rejoining the track. This forced both drivers to retire and caused the two Toro Rossos of Sébastien Bourdais and Sébastien Buemi to crash into each other.

In Monaco, Sutil finished 14th and finished 17th in Turkey, after qualifying a career-best of 15th.

Sutil leading Fernando Alonso at the 2009 British Grand Prix

In qualifying in Britain, Sutil went off at Abbey corner after brake failure in Q1. Qualifying was red flagged and as a result no one else could post a lap time. This meant that Sutil was to start from 18th on the grid, although the team had hoped that both Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella would get into Q2. Due to the damage caused by the accident he had to start from the pit lane because he needed to use a new car and a new engine, and went on to finish 17th in an uneventful race.

Sutil at the 2009 German Grand Prix

In Germany, Sutil took advantage of the unpredictable conditions in qualifying, and secured his best-ever qualifying position of seventh. In the race, he was lying in second place for a while before his first pit stop. However, a collision with Kimi Räikkönen after coming out of the pit lane meant he had to pit again to replace his front wing. He finished 15th. It was the second time that a collision with Räikkönen cost Sutil the chance to score points, after the previous incident at the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix.

In Hungary, he was forced to retire after just two laps because a water temperature problem caused the engine to overheat, after qualifying 17th.

In Valencia, new aerodynamic upgrades for the VJM02 saw him qualify 12th, and he then raced steadily to finish 10th, demonstrating that the team were at last showing signs of competitiveness, as teammate Fisichella finished 12th behind Heidfeld's BMW Sauber.

In Belgium, he qualified 11th, although the main celebrations in the Force India pit were for teammate Giancarlo Fisichella's excellent pole position. Sutil finished 11th, while Fisichella finished less than a second behind Kimi Räikkönen's race-winning Ferrari.

Sutil at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix

At the Italian Grand Prix, Sutil took his career best qualifying result of second place and finished fourth in the race behind Räikkönen, despite accidentally overshooting his mechanics during his final pit stop, but they suffered only minor injuries. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, his first in Formula One and the first fastest lap recorded for Force India.

In Singapore, Sutil was forced to retire after he collided with Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber, moving into his path as he recovered from a spin. After the race, Sutil was reprimanded by race stewards and fined $20,000 for causing an avoidable accident.^[15]

Sutil during practice for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix

In Japan, Sutil took his second best career qualifying result of fourth, but was given a 5 grid place penalty along with Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso for not slowing down while yellow flags were waved (due to a crash by Sebastien Buemi, who was also demoted five places for attempting to drive his badly damaged Toro Rosso back to the pits) and started the race from eighth on the grid. Sutil finished 13th.

In the wet qualifying session in Brazil, Sutil qualified third, but retired on lap one following a collision with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. Out of control on the wet grass outside Turn 5, Trulli hit Sutil, and then slid back onto the track and struck Alonso's Renault, resulting in all three being out of the race. Trulli blamed Sutil for pushing him outside the track at the fifth corner and thus causing the accident, and furiously berated the German at the side of the track in full-view of worldwide TV cameras. This time the stewards took no action against Sutil for the accident, while Trulli was fined $10,000 for his unacceptable behaviour.^[16] The matter was not resolved however, as Sutil and Trulli still argued about the accident two weeks later at the driver's press conference for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.^[17]

In Abu Dhabi, Sutil was unusually off the pace, qualifying only 18th on the grid. Although he overtook several cars during the race, a poor pit strategy resulted in Sutil finishing the race at the back of the field, scrapping with Fisichella (who had joined Ferrari) and Renault's Romain Grosjean. The German eventually finished 17th, 1 lap down but ahead of the Frenchman.

2010[link]

Sutil during practice for the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix

Sutil was in talks with Force India to renew his contract, and on 27 November 2009, the team announced that the German's contract had been renewed, while test-driver Vitantonio Liuzzi was given a full-time race seat.^[18] Sutil qualified tenth for the first two races of the year, but a collision with Robert Kubica in Bahrain and a mechanical failure in Australia meant he scored no points in either. However, Sutil commented that the performances proved that the team could now score points in dry races.^[19] This comment was backed up by Sutil's fifth-place finish in the following race in Malaysia. In China he finished 11th. In Spain he finished 7th and in Monaco he finished 8th. Sutil again finished in the points in Turkey with a 9th place.