McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will attend the court hearing of his friend Adrian Sutil later this month, after being called to testify in the case between the German driver and Lotus co-owner Erc Lux.
Sutil is standing trial in Germany over allegations of causing grievous bodily harm to Lux in an altercation in a Chinese nightclub last year.The incident is said to have taken place after last year's Chinese Grand Prix, which Hamilton won.
Hamilton was present in the nightclub with close friend Sutil, celebrating his victory in the race, when the alleged incident took place.
And the McLaren man will be called to testify in the court, his appearance being confirmed earlier this week.
"The first day Lewis Hamilton is being called as a witness," the Munich court spokeswoman Ingrid Kaps muttered to the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper, "This is a mandatory appearance."
According to some reports, former Virgin Racing driver Jerome d'Ambrosio and an unnamed F1 journalist could also be called to the trial.
The trial is set to take place on January 30th-31st, meaning that Hamilton's appearance will take place just a few days before the new 2012 McLaren is launched on February 1st.
Sutil has maintained his innocence over the incident since the allegations first came to light earlier last year.
And his manager Manfred Zimmermann again reaffirmed his confidence that the evidence the defence team had would be enough to ensure Sutil did not face a stern punishment.
"We have a video where it can be seen clearly that this was not Adrian attacking or intentionally hurting someone," he was quoted as saying by various media sources last week.
"We expect an acquittal, or at worst a conviction for negligent injury. But that would not jeopardise his career."
But the prosecution in the case are requesting that Sutil be punished with a year's suspended sentence.
The German lost his drive at the Force India team at the end of the 2011 season, being replaced by German compatriot Nico Hulkenberg.
He was briefly linked with a drive at Williams, but he missed out on that chance, reportedly down to issues the team had with the ongoing legal issue.
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