Force India to act if Sutil case proceeds – Mallya

Boss Vijay Mallya has admitted Adrian Sutil could lose his Force India race seat due to the Shanghai nightclub incident of last month.

The Force India team owner revealed to reporters in Monaco that German driver Sutil would be in breach of contract if Renault co-owner Eric Lux, injured in the neck with a broken glass, successfully prosecutes for criminal assault.

But Mallya insists that, as yet, Lux has not taken the matter beyond a press release.

“We have not heard of any formal complaint being registered in any country for any sort of misconduct by Adrian,” he said.  “So it would be highly inappropriate for us to presume that he did something.”

Mallya admitted, however, that Force India will take “appropriate action” if a complaint about Sutil is formally filed.

“You know, contracts do not supercede misconduct so unless I’m convinced that there is misconduct the contract shall prevail,” he said.

“I don’t know what happened there (in China), none of my people know what happened so there’s a due process of law.

“If and when he’s charged, I will assess the situation,” he added.

Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann confirmed in Monaco that they are yet to hear anything official from Lux, his lawyers or any authorities.

“The situation is unchanged,” Zimmermann, who last addressed the media in Spain a week ago, is quoted by DPA news agency.

“We are still awaiting a response from the other side.  So far we have not heard anything.”

© RIF | GMM