Adrian Sutil, racer and pianist

Adrian Sutil, here with Peter Sauber, was born on 11 January 1983. He is a German racing driver who raced in Formula One for 7 seasons: from 2007 to 2011, then from 2013 to 2014. Sutil drove for the Spyker F1, Force India and Sauber teams. He took 128 F1 starts and scored 124 career points and one fastest lap.

When his fellow racers were competing in go-karting, Sutil was performing as a concert pianist. He began playing when he was 4, encouraged by his father, Jorge, a professional violin player from Uruguay and his mother Monika a pianist from Germany.

At 14, Adrian discovered karting, and from then on, he was determined to succeed in racing. He remembers: “It was a little shock for both my parents, because I suddenly stopped my piano and I started with car racing, a completely different world, and they expected me to become a piano player but never a racing driver. It took a little while, but then they accepted it and now they are really proud.”

Picture below: Adrian Sutil and Lewis Hamilton at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix. The two are close friends since their joint Formula 3 days.