JANUARY 20, 2012

F1 drivers legal update

Lewis Hamilton is expected to appear as a witness for Adrian Sutil in the German's aggravated assault trial on January 30.

Lewis Hamilton is expected to appear as a witness for Adrian Sutil in the German's aggravated assault trial on January 30.

An incident occurred in a Shanghai nightclub last April as the pair celebrated Hamilton's win in the Chinese Grand Prix. It is claimed that Sutil struck Lotus Renault GP's Eric Lux with a champagne glass, causing a gash that required multiple stitching.

A court spokeswoman told the German media that Hamilton's presence is a mandatory appearance.

The Sutil camp and manager Manfred Zimmermann are reportedly confident of either an acquittal or, worst case scenario, a conviction for negligent injury and claim they have video evidence to prove that Sutil did not intentionally injure Lux.

Some suggest that fears of a Sutil conviction were a contributory factor in Bruno Senna securing the last meaningful place on the 2012 F1 grid at Williams, ahead of Sutil.

In Holland, meanwhile, Jos Verstappen was released from prison today following an attempted murder charge that followed his girlfriend allegedly being struck by Verstappen's car in Roermond.

The former GP driver has been incarcerated for the past fortnight but a lawyer's statement claims that the original charge has been withdrawn and there is insufficient evidence to hold the Dutchman on an assault charge.