F1 driver Sutil to face criminal charges over China fracas?

A statement has just been released by Eric Lux, the co-owner of Genii Capital and therefore of the Renault F1 team, who was injured in an incident with Adrian Sutil on the evening after the Chinese Grand Prix.

He says that he plans to press for criminal proceedings against the Force India driver,

"Mr Eric Lux has decided to file a criminal complaint against Mister Adrian Sutil for physical assault and grievous bodily harm.

"As soon as the complaint is registered, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the team Force India will be notified.

"Furthermore, please note that Mr Eric Lux does not exclude commencing an action against any other persons involved in this matter."

The last line is intriguing. Although Sutil's close friend Lewis Hamilton was present at the time, there has been no suggestion that he was in any way involved and he is reported to have left quickly after Lux was injured.

Lux was injured apparently by a broken glass during an incident in a nightclub in Shanghai after the race. He required stitches for a wound to the neck.

At this stage not many facts have been established. Sutil made a kind of apology for the incident but said that Lux's injuries occurred by accident and that he did not deliberately wound the financier.

The reasons for the altercation are yet to be explained.

The last time anything like this occurred, albeit less serious in terms of injury, was when Bertrand Gachot was found guilty of assaulting a London taxi driver with CS gas in 1991. His subsequent incarceration led to the hiring by the Jordan team of a 22 year old by the name of Michael Schumacher.