Force India driver Adrian Sutil
To no great surprise, Formula 1 Championship leader Sebastian Vettel dominated practice today ahead of the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix though it was his Red Bull Racing teammate, Mark Webber, who was fastest at the Circuit de Catalunya.
However, all eyes were on Force India driver Adrian Sutil who is still facing pressure from Renault co-owner Eric Lux over an alleged incident that took place a few weeks ago during the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.
It is reported that Sutil physically assaulted Lux in a Shanghai nightclub, and though unsubstantiated, the German driver’s future at Force India is now under scrutiny. Lux has already filed a criminal complaint against Sutil for the alleged assault and now reportedly plans to sue him.
Understandably, Sutil and his manager Manfred Zimmermann are remaining tight lipped about the whole situation.
Turning our attention to Fernando Alonso, hometown favorite at Circuit de Catalunya, the young Spaniard is sure to be on a high following yesterday’s announcement that his contract with Ferrari has been extended until 2016.
Almost all the drivers, meanwhile, were displeased with a new harder compound Pirelli is using in its tires to make them last longer during races, with the main complaint being that the newer tires are too slow and offer considerably less grip than those with the softer compound used in previous races.
Hopefully this means that there’ll be some shakeups come Sunday. Going into qualifying tomorrow and Sunday’s race, German youngster Sebastian Vettel leads the points table with 93 points, followed by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on 59 points and Mark Webber on 55 points.
Stay tuned for our 2011 Spanish Grand Prix weather report on Sunday and our full race recap on Monday.
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