Revealed: The driver who replaces Nico Hulkenberg with dreaded F1 record

With Nico Hulkenberg storming from 19th on the grid to finish third in the British Grand Prix, one of Formula 1’s most unwanted records now belongs to Adrian Sutil.

It took Hulkenberg 239 attempts to stand on a Formula 1 podium, but his Silverstone heroics have lifted the weight of the "most starts without a podium" tag, a blemish on what has otherwise been a highly-respected career for the German.

Now, that unenviable distinction passes to another ex-Force India driver, Sutil. 

Born in Bavaria, Germany, Sutil contested 128 grands prix between 2007 and 2014, but never had the chance to showcase his talent in a front-running car.

He began his F1 journey as a test driver for Midland in 2006 and was promoted to a race seat when the team became Spyker in 2007. He stayed on through its transformation into Force India under Vijay Mallya, and it’s that long stint with the Silverstone-based outfit that he is mostly remembered for.

As Force India grew more competitive, Sutil became a semi-regular points scorer and achieved his best championship result of ninth in the 2011 season. However, he seldom featured at the front, recording just four top-five finishes in his career.

His closest brush with a podium came at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Armed with the same low-downforce package that had taken teammate Giancarlo Fisichella to pole and second place in Belgium a fortnight earlier, Sutil qualified on the front row and finished a strong fourth, just half a second shy of the Ferrari of third-placed Kimi Raikkonen.

Sutil’s career momentum stalled after the 2011 season, when he became embroiled in a legal case following an altercation with Lotus F1 team executive Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub. He was replaced at Force India by none other than Hulkenberg and handed an 18-month suspended sentence along with a €200,000 fine.

With the legal matter resolved, Sutil returned to the grid in 2013, once again stepping into a Force India seat vacated by Hulkenberg, who had moved to Sauber. But Sutil struggled to match teammate Paul di Resta and was dropped at the end of the year.

In a twist of fate, he joined Sauber in 2014 just as Hulkenberg returned to Force India (now Aston Martin), effectively swapping places again. But Sauber endured a miserable season under the new hybrid regulations, failing to score a single point with either Sutil or rookie Esteban Gutierrez.

Dropped at the end of 2014, Sutil briefly joined Williams as a reserve driver in 2015 but never returned to racing in F1. He has largely stayed out of the spotlight since then.

Aside from a brief stint in the Ferrari Challenge Europe in 2022–23, he has not raced competitively since his F1 days ended.

Outside the paddock, Sutil owns an impressive collection of supercars, including a McLaren Senna LM and a Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta.