Adrian Sutil does not believe his criminal record will prevent him making a return to Formula One in 2013. The German has been linked with a return to Force India, having sat out the 2012 season after the team chose to replace him with Nico Hulkenberg.
Sutil, 29, was convicted of grievous bodily harm in January of this year and handed an 18-month suspended sentence after an incident at a nightclub in Shanghai following the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix. The conviction could have had an impact on his ability to enter some countries on the F1 calendar, but Sutil says that is not the case. Speaking to the BBC at the Race of Champions event in Bangkok, he said: “My management and I checked all the countries and there is no problem for me to travel. That is why I am able to be here.
“All my problems last winter are solved. It will be a new start.” Jaime Alguersuari, Kamui Kobayashi and Jules Bianchi are also contenders for the seat alongside Scotland’s Paul Di Resta. But Sutil is not feeling any anxiety over the wait to find out if the drive is his. “The signature is what counts. They know who I am and how to work with me; in the last five years we got a lot of experience,” he said. “There’s not a lot to say, it’s up to (team principal) Vijay (Mallya), it’s his decision, and hopefully he will make the right one so I am in the car. “I’m quite relaxed; I know how to handle this situation, I’ve done the maximum I can do at the moment and now it’s up to them to decide if I’m in the seat or not.”