HOW different life can be as a Formula One rookie. While Lewis Hamilton speeds to P1 on the grid and a future as a millionaire, if not a billionaire, spare a thought for Adrian Sutil as he bumps along at the back of the grid.

Yesterday was one of the better days for the 24-year-old German, who is a close friend of Hamilton, having been a teammate of the Briton in Formula Three two years ago. He finished 20th in qualifying for today’s grand prix at Silverstone, beating Takuma Sato of Super Aguri, and his own Spyker teammate Christijan Albers. While not quite the high-water mark of his 19th on the grid in Monaco, it was still a decent day’s work.

Sutil’s expectations for today’s race will necessarily be modest. In eight races this season his best placing is 13th, at Barcelona in the Spanish Grand Prix – and then only 14 drivers finished the race. In only one race so far has he beaten more than one other driver, at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, where he came 14th. Throw in three retirements and it has not been a happy season.

But Sutil does not rail at Lady Luck for delivering him to Spyker team boss Colin Kolles while his friend landed a plum drive with Ron Dennis at McLaren.

“Of course I’d rather be at the front rather than the back,” Sutil said. “But I am happy to be in F1. It’s been my passion since I first stepped into a kart at 13. Being at the back is more complicated as there are a lot more cars in front, which can cause problems. Also, the car is more difficult. When you’re not in one of the best cars you’re constantly struggling with oversteer and understeer.”

While his racing results have been undeniably poor, Sutil showed in Monaco that he was sufficiently street-smart to match the best. On the most tricky circuit of them all he finished on top of the practice time sheets with a near-perfect lap in the rain, albeit when the cars were running with different fuel loads and tyres. “That was great, as it was Monaco, where you can’t make the smallest mistake without being punished, and I beat the big boys in the wet,” he said. “You have to have a big heart to go fast into the corners at Monaco, as it is so easy to hit the barriers.”

Sutil is regularly seen with Hamilton on and off the track. “We went on holiday to Thailand between Australia and Malaysia, and made a hash of playing golf,” he said.

“Lewis had had a few lessons, but I hadn’t and I managed to ruin a golf club, but it was fun. We just hung out together and relaxed and listened to music.”

The young men are united by a love of hip-hop, although Sutil’s tastes have a more classical bent. His father was the lead violinist of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and he was a gifted pianist before he “found more action in motor racing than playing the piano”. He has since returned to playing for relaxation.

There is none of that when he sees his friend roaring up behind him, of course. He has a simple answer as to what goes through his mind: “Get out of the way! Without losing too much of my lap time, of course. It’s different now than when we were teammates, as we’re not racing for position.”

Maybe that day will come soon. Despite his poor results, Sutil has impressed enough to be rumoured as a replacement for Ralf Schumacher at Toyota.