MONACO (AFP) — Luckless German Adrian Sutil was beyond consolation Sunday after being robbed of his career-best finish in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Sutil, in an unfancied Force India car, was virtually certain to finish in fourth place when, with three laps to go, defending drivers' world champion Kimi Raikkonen rammed into him with his Ferrari.
Sutil was forced out while Finn Raikkonen, who was the title-race leader beforehand, continued and finished ninth.
The German driver retired with damage to the rear of his car following the collision under braking for the chicane after the final Safety Car period.
Sutil said: "It's a really a shame, we were really close. Then Kimi crashed into my rear and destroyed my whole race.
"It was the best race of my whole career and it is really a shame - I can't say any more about it. I am so really disappointed."
Sutil started 18th on the grid, but moved steadily through the field as several more favoured drivers, including eventual winner Lewis Hamilton and Spaniard Fernando Alonso hit the barriers in the difficult wet weather conditions.
The Force India driver forced his way into the points by lap 15 and seemed set for fourth when the Safety Car was called out with 20 minutes to go.
Sutil added: "I knew that in the race we had a chance. I knew from my performance last year that I am really strong here and after the first lap in the race I knew I liked the conditions and I was catching cars.
"I took it easy, just to try not to go off or something then when I got the chance I really pushed. I did fastest laps in the race and it was great. I was really doing good.
"It's just so disappointing that in the last few laps all my work was over."
Sutil's reputation as a strong wet weather driver was cemented by his performance in a wet free practice at Monaco in 2007, when he set the fastest time of all in a Spyker.
He was also eighth fastest in the rain affected Saturday morning free practice session and had showed during the race that he could run easily in the points on pace alone.
Sutil and the team's chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne went to the stewards' office after the race to officially complain about Raikkonen's actions.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
