Sutil: Kimi’s the best example

Adrian Sutil says Kimi Raikkonen is a good example of what drivers can strive to achieve when they return to Formula One…

Adrian Sutil says Kimi Raikkonen is a good example of what drivers can strive to achieve when they return to Formula One.

After a year away from the sport, Sutil will be back on this year’s grid after signing a deal with former team Force India.

Confirmed on Thursday, the German was in action on Friday, putting in 62 laps at a rain-hit Circuit de Catalunya where he was 1.5s off the pace.

Asked if he expected he would need a period of adjustment, he told Sky Sports F1: “I don’t think about problems, I look forward to the first races.

“I’m a positive person, not a negative person. If I only look on the problems and difficulties I get myself into a real problem.

“So I’m confident and just one year out of racing… I take Kimi as the best example. He was the most consistent driver in the whole field last year and had two years of break [from F1].”

In fact the 30-year-old, who also spent a day in the car last week when he was still up against Jules Bianchi for the Force India drive, reckons both himself and the team are ready to go racing.

“You can have more days and you’re just feeling more comfortable, but our car is quite easy to drive so I feel quite comfortable already.

“You can always have more test days but sometimes you’re just driving around, and I like racing and not so keen on testing the whole time.

“Sometimes you get lost a little bit in all these different settings and I think we had enough and can go from Australia and see where it goes.

“It’s a long season and we can develop our car anyway throughout the season, so we have to be strong on that time.”