Webber Becomes Sixth F1 Winner With Monaco Victory

Franchitti Earns Third Indy 500 Win

Hong Kong Witnesses First Aston Martin One-77 Crash
2013 Volkswagen CC Gets Sporty R-Line Trim

Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix Weather Forecast

Sarrazin Gains Final Seat For Toyota Racing At Le Mans
Indy 500 Carb Day Practice To Franchitti; Dixon Takes IZOD Pit...

Volkswagen Golf R Cabrio Patent Photos Revealed

2013 Cadillac XTS Configurator Launched

McLaren Silences Hamilton Over Sutil Verdict

Kurt Ernst

Contributor BIO

Kurt has been fascinated by anything with wheels and a motor for a long time. Growing up, he spent his spare time turning wrenches and pumping gas in... More

LATEST ARTICLE
Is A BMW 1-Series Sedan In The Works?
The BMW 3-Series sedan, like many of us, has picked up a few additional pounds and inches over the... Read More

#2LEADERBOARD RANK
1588ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
81COMMENTS POSTED

1,221 views Feb 2, 2012

Lewis Hamilton

Enlarge Photo

Two days ago, former Force India F1 pilot Adrian Sutil was convicted of “grievous bodily harm” by a German court in regards to his assault on financier Eric Lux.

The fallout from the verdict, it appears, is far from over.

McLaren Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton was expected to appear at Sutil’s trial and testify on his behalf. That never happened, as Hamilton was tied up with "team commitments" leading up to this week’s launch of the new McLaren MP4-27 F1 race car.

As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, Hamilton’s absence didn’t sit well with Sutil, who called his long-time (and now former) friend a coward for his actions.

Sutil went on to declare, “For me he is not a man. Even his father sent me a text message to wish me good luck in the trial.”

Sutil further alleges that Hamilton changed his cell phone number, preventing any possible contact between the two. It’s likely that was done at the request (or demand) of McLaren; when asked about Sutil’s comments, a McLaren spokesman answered before Hamilton could respond.

“We’ve been told that Lewis really shouldn’t go there because it might go under appeal,” the spokesman said. In other words, we’re not saying anything about Sutil, the verdict or the case in general, so move on to the next question.

As for Sutil, he claims to be “considering some time out of the sport.” Given that all the potential F1 driver seats are filled for the 2012 season, Sutil likely doesn’t have any other option.