Incredible shock for the world of Formula 1: former driver Adrian Sutil has been taken into custody.
A bombshell from Germany: Sutil was arrested during what BILD describes as an “international raid”. At the center of the investigation are serious accusations of fraud and embezzlement, although the situation is still far from clear.
No authorities have issued official confirmations, nor have any documents been released describing the operation in detail. Sutil has made no public statements, while the limited information circulating speaks of a coordinated action on an international scale. The exact context, the extent of the alleged crimes, and the material gathered by investigators all remain unknown.
Sutil, who raced in F1 from 2007 to 2014 with Spyker, Force India, and Sauber, had already been in the spotlight in 2011, when he was found guilty of injuring Lotus executive Eric Lux with a glass in a Shanghai nightclub. For that incident he received an 18-month suspended sentence and a fine — a case that pushed him temporarily out of the paddock before returning in 2013.
Today’s arrest opens a far more serious chapter in the life of the former German driver. Now, official statements from the authorities are expected to understand which charges led to an operation of this scale and what Sutil’s current legal position is. Until then, the case remains in full development.