Adrian Sutil risked putting his Spyker bosses in even more of a spin on Friday by beaching his car in the gravel.
The German youngster had to abandon Spyker’s F8-VII single seater after a spin in Indianapolis’ penultimate corner, mere hours after team officials Colin Kolles and Mike Gascoyne warned both he and teammate Christijan Albers to cut out the silly mistakes.
Sutil had earlier left the Indianapolis circuit at turn 8, losing time.
“If you can’t take some constructive criticism then there is no place in any team for you,” team principal Kolles said.
Ralf Schumacher is also under pressure to retain his seat, and had an off-track moment during the first practice session for the 2007 US grand prix.
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso dominated the top of the time sheets, but BMW-Sauber’s runners – including stand-in debutant Sebastian Vettel – also impressed after clocking the second and fourth best times.
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were fifth and seventh in their Ferraris, while Renault’s duo conspicuously lagged the pace; Heikki Kovalainen managing to better only Anthony Davidson and the two slowest Spykers.
American GP, first free practise
1 F. Alonso McLaren 1:11.925 16
2 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:12.391 24
3 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:12.628 21
4 S. Vettel BMW 1:12.869 33
5 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:12.966 21
6 N. Rosberg Williams 1:13.020 24
7 F. Massa Ferrari 1:13.040 22
8 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:13.159 22
9 J. Button Honda 1:13.597 23
10 M. Webber Red Bull 1:13.682 26
11 J. Trulli Toyota 1:13.777 32
12 K. Nakajima Williams 1:13.786 27
13 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:13.819 27
14 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.907 28
15 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.990 24
16 G. Fisichella Renault 1:14.000 19
17 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:14.037 20
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:14.052 23
19 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:14.189 18
20 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:14.632 10
21 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:14.636 28
22 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:14.810 27
American GP, second free practise
1 F. Alonso McLaren 1:12.156 35
2 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:12.309 34
3 F. Massa Ferrari 1:12.435 36
4 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:12.587 38
5 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:13.026 43
6 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:13.042 41
7 N. Rosberg Williams 1:13.057 35
8 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:13.110 48
9 R. Barrichello Honda 1:13.144 40
10 J. Button Honda 1:13.202 46
11 S. Vettel BMW 1:13.217 50
12 M. Webber Red Bull 1:13.263 21
13 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.332 41
14 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:13.364 46
15 G. Fisichella Renault 1:13.394 44
16 A. Wurz Williams 1:13.539 29
17 J. Trulli Toyota 1:13.692 42
18 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.712 34
19 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:13.753 46
20 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:13.765 39
21 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:14.225 30
22 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:14.513 33
