Having opened his
Formula One account at last year's Japanese Grand Prix,
Adrian Sutil is hoping that lightning will strike twice as he returns to Fuji Speedway for this year's race.
Racing as a rookie with the Spyker team, the German benefited from a penalty applied to Toro Rosso's Tonio Liuzzi - for passing Sutil under yellow flags - and the chaos caused by extraordinarily wet conditions to claim eighth place in 2007, his only
F1 point to date, and the only one recorded by the Spyker team in its brief existence before
Force India took over for 2008.
Now in a similarly point-less position, Sutil is hoping that returning to a country and venue he knows well from his successful stint in the All-Japan F3 Championship will pay dividends for the improving
Silverstone outfit.
"For sure, this is what you have to hope for, but it's more difficult than ever this year," he admitted, "We had a tough event in Singapore, but we are so close to the pace that it only takes for one team to have a difficult time and we could be up there. Of course, you can't rely on other teams, you have to make sure you are on top form yourself, so let's see."
Indeed, a repeat of last year's atrocious conditions, while unlikely, could provide Sutil's best chance of scoring, the German being an accomplished driver in the wet.
"The track was already special for me as I had spent so much time there and still have friends in the area, but the race itself was very difficult," he recalled, "The conditions were tough, as visibility was so bad, but, in very difficult circumstances, I think we made some good decisions and could do a lot of fighting.
"When I crossed the line, I thought I was actually ninth, which was slightly disappointing as we were so close to getting that point. Then the team told me that I should have been eighth as Tonio had passed under yellow and should have been given a penalty.
