Former F1 driver Lehto acquitted in boat accident

HELSINKI (AP) A Finnish court has acquitted former Formula One driver Jyrki Jarvilehto, known as JJ Lehto on the track, of drunken driving in a boat accident that killed his friend.

The Turku Court of Appeal says there was insufficient evidence to show that Lehto was steering the speedboat when it slammed into a bridge in a narrow channel in 2010.

A lower court had found Lehto guilty of drunken and dangerous driving, but the appeals court said his friend could have been behind the wheel.

The 46-year-old former racing driver was injured in the accident, saying he remembers little about it because he had been drinking for several days.

Lehto was a Formula One driver from 1989 to 1994. He won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1995 and 2005.

Updated November 30, 2012