Sutil slams 'coward' Hamilton
2012-02-01 13:14
DODGING JAIL: Formula 1 driver Adrian Sutil is pictured with his manager after being handed an 18-month sentence for assault. Sutil apologised for the incident but has slammed friend and fellow F1 driver Lewis Hamilton for not supporting him.
Munich, Germany - Formula 1 driver Adrian Sutil has called fellow driver Lewis Hamilton a coward, and said he no longer regards him as a friend for not standing up for him during his assault trial.
Sutil was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, by a court here after being convicted of causing bodily harm in a night club brawl. He was also fined the equivalent of R2-million.
Sutil and Hamilton, friends for years, were together at the Shanghai club after the Chinese F1 GP in April 2011 when the row erupted. Eric Lux, co-owner of the former Renault-Lotus team, was injured.
'LEWIS IS A COWARD'
Hamilton did not give evidence in the trial and instead provided a written statement to say he did not witness the incident.
Sutil said: "Lewis is a coward, I don't want to be friends with someone like that."
He added that Hamilton was "not a man," and that "even his father sent me an SMS wishing me luck - from Lewis there was nothing.