MUNICH: Former Force India driver Adrian Sutil was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to a Formula One team owner in a nightclub confrontation in China and given an 18-month suspended sentence on Tuesday.
The Munich district court passed the verdict and the sentence after a two-day trial. The prosecutors asked for a 21-month suspended sentence.
Sutil was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Renault team executive Eric Lux at a party following Lewis Hamilton's victory at the China Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 17. Lux needed two dozen stitches after being cut in the neck by a broken glass.
The German driver told the court on Monday that he had "tried everything" to settle the case out of court, offering "tens of millions" and a charitable donation but was turned down by Lux.
"I'm terribly sorry. I never wanted what happened there to happen," Sutil said on the first day of the trial.
Sutil said last year he wanted only to spill his drink on Lux, who was part owner of the team now renamed Lotus, and that causing the injury was completely "unintentional and accidental."
The 29-year-old Sutil lost his seat at Force India after five seasons to compatriot Nico Hulkenberg in December. Sutil was without a team for this year.