Biography

At the age of 14 however, rather than discovering 'Rock 'n' Roll, Adrian discovered Karting, and his life was changed forever. "From that moment on the sound of racing engines was the only music I wanted to hear," he admits.

Spending the next few years honing his skills in Karts, Adrian switched to single-seaters in 2002, winning all ten rounds of the Swiss Formula Ford Championship in addition to taking five wins in the Austrian Formula Masters Championship.

There followed a difficult season in the Formula BMW ADAC championship, his best result being a sixth place, with things only marginally improving in 2004 when he switched to the Formula 3 Euroseries. That said, in Euroseries he drove for Colin Kolles team, the two forging a relationship that would eventually lead to Formula One.

For 2005 he remained in Euroseries but switched to the ASM Team, where he was partnered by upcoming British hot-shot, Lewis Hamilton. Adrian was no match for the British youngster, who won fifteen races to the German's two. However, the German finished runner-up in the championship and second (to Hamilton) in the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort.

Adrian missed the last two rounds of the 2005 Euroseries in order to represent his country in A1 GP, taking part in three races (Portugal, Australia and Dubai), his best result being two twelfth positions.

In 2006, Adrian followed the example of many before him, heading off to Japan, where he contested, and won, the F3 championship. In addition to one appearance in Super GT, the German finished third at Macau.

2006 also saw the youngster get his F1 break, recruited as one of three test drivers for Midland F1 Racing (formerly Jordan), and managed by his former Euroseries boss Colin Kolles.

Adrian took part in three Friday test sessions (at the European, French and Japanese rounds) giving a fairly good account of himself.

Nonetheless, there was widespread surprise when Spyker, which had bought Midland in September, subsequently confirmed that Adrian had been signed as its second driver (partnering Christijan Albers) on a "long-term contract".

"This is a great signing for team," said Spyker Team Principal Colin Kolles, however, the majority of the paddock, not least Tiago Monteiro, remained flummoxed that Adrian had made it to F1 so quickly and with no real track record, so to speak. Even the German seemed surprised by the decision, admitting: "To be honest I thought I would be a test driver in 2007".

Almost from the outset, it was clear that Adrian, although not exactly 'special' in the Lewis Hamilton sense, was good. Indeed, he was very good.

Looking at the stats it would appear that the German had a miserable season, scoring one point, and that the result of a rival (Tonio Liuzzi) being penalized for overtaking under a yellow flag. However, along the way there were some remarkable performances, most notably in a wet Saturday free practice session in Monaco, where he topped the timesheets, and at Spa, where a strong drive - combined with a good tyre strategy - saw him mixing it with the Top Ten, giving David Coulthard a hard time. There were also a number of excellent qualifying performances, Monaco springing to mind (again).

Yes, there were mistakes, often the result of over exuberance, such as Canada, Monaco and Silverstone, but for the most part the German youngster was impressive. After all, why else was he being looked at by Toyota, Williams and even McLaren, as it searched for a replacement for Fernando Alonso, at the end of 2007?

In the end, Adrian opted to remain with Force India (Spyker as was) where he can continue to hone his undoubted skills before seriously considering a switch to the likes of Williams.

"He's a very good, quick driver," said Mike Gascoyne, who has worked with some very good drivers. "Mentally he has the ability, he just has to remain focussed."

In 2008, not only must he remain focussed, he must continue to build on the foundation laid in 2007. Providing Force India is serious about its approach to the sport, and gives him the necessary equipment, we think he will.

Statistics - Prior to 2008 Season

Drivers' Titles: 0
Seasons in F1: 1
Grand Prix: 17
Wins: 0
Points: 1
Poles: 0
Fastest Laps: 0

Best result in 2007: 8th (Japan)
Best qualifying 2007: 19th (Monaco)
Worst qualifying 2007: 22nd (2 times)
Average grid position 2007: 20.71
2007: Out-qualified Christijan Albers 7 times
2007: Out-qualified Markus Winkelhock 1 time
2007: Out-qualified Sakon Yamamoto 7 times
2007: Out-qualified by Christijan Albers 2 times
2007: Out-qualified by Markus Winkelhock 0 times
2007: Out-qualified by Sakon Yamamoto 0 timess

2007: Completed 753 out of 1065 laps (70.7%)
2007: Finished 9 times from 17 starts (53%)