Hamilton ’pathetic’ says Sutil’s angry father

Adrian Sutil’s father has joined the former Force India driver in slamming Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton, who was German Sutil’s former F3 teammate and his closest friend in the F1 paddock, declined to appear as a witness in the trial this week about the assault on Lotus team executive Eric Lux.

Sutil, 29, was convicted of grievous bodily harm and fined EUR 200,000, and is without a race seat for the 2012 season.

"The initial shock has now passed but the whole thing is terribly uncomfortable for him," Jorge Sutil, referring to his beleaguered son, told the Munchner Merkur newspaper.

"He’s never had to face anything like this and I never thought he’d be in such a situation," added Sutil’s father.

As for Hamilton’s role in the affair, having sat alongside Sutil in the Shanghai nightclub at the time of the alleged assault, Jorge Sutil is blunt.

"It’s really pathetic," he said.

"Lewis Hamilton moved to Monaco and didn’t tell Adrian his new phone number. But he often called him if he had personal problems.

"I think my son chose the wrong friend," Sutil’s father added.

"In a situation where Adrian needed support, he could tell his team that he had another engagement. Or he could have called to say that he doesn’t want to come (to Munich). That would have been acceptable.

"But he has not even done it in person. For a great champion, that’s a pretty weak performance. I would be ashamed," added Jorge Sutil.

And the final straw of the affair, said Sutil’s father, is the damage to his son’s career.

"It’s not just his reputation, it’s also about his career," agreed Sutil Snr.

"He is one of the top ten formula one drivers and yet now he is dealing with how to come out from this affair somehow.

"At the moment, he’s not talking very much about formula one. But that was always his dream. Now he needs to get away and then go about making the next steps."