Di Resta ready to go

BATHGATE'S PAUL di Resta gets his new Formula One season underway tomorrow when he takes part in the opening test in Valencia. The 24-year-old is scheduled to drive his Force India racer at the Spanish circuit tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday.

"It's going to be good to get back to concentrating fully on driving again," Di Resta, who will be joined by team-mate Adrian Sutil and test driver Nico Hulkenberg at the three-day test, said today.

"With all the arrangements for the official announcement of the Force India driving seat in Glasgow last week, then flying to Stuttgart for the 125th anniversary of the first Mercedes-Benz car at the weekend, it's certainly been busy. So it's going to be good to get back into the office."

But while some of the teams — including Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes, Team Lotus and Sauber — will debut their 2011 racers over the next three days, Di Resta must wait until next week to get his hands on his all-new car.

"We're not unveiling the VJM04, the 2011 Force India car, until next week's test in Jerez, so we're running a modified 2010 VJM03 this week," Di Resta continued.

"Our main priority will be working with new tyre supplier, Pirelli, to get a good baseline set-up and understand how the new rubber works with the car.

"I took part in the first official Pirelli tyre test at the end of last season in Abu Dhabi, and we established a reasonable early picture of the tyres. It's going to be interesting to see what developments there have been with the tyres.

"But the three days this week will give me and my engineers a very good reference point from which we can further develop the new car next week in Jerez."

And Di Resta admits he's looking forward to getting his hands on his own F1 racer, unlike last season when he had to hand the car back to either Sutil or Italian Tonio Liuzzi, the man he replaced at Force India.

"While I was totally involved with the team and engineers last year, and supplied a comprehensive amount of feedback from the test sessions I took part in, at the end of the day I had to hand the car back; essentially I had only borrowed it for the session," the Scot explained.

"This year it's my race car. That means we'll be working together at every session, not just this week and next week, but right through the Formula One season, to fine tune the car to the finest, finest degree to ensure we get the maximum speed, handling and performance out of it. And I can't wait to get started."

FORCE INDIA VALENCIA SCHEDULE

Nico Hulkenberg will be the first to drive a Force India this season when he initiates the testing session that begins on February 1 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

The German, who was recently announced as the Silverstone-based outfit’s test and reserve driver, will then handover the duties to Paul di Resta for the afternoon stint and the entire second day.

Adrian Sutil will take over from the Scot on the final day.

“Nico will get in the VJM03 on Tuesday morning, with Paul taking over in the afternoon. The Scot stays in for day 2 with Adrian doing day 3,” confirmed the squad’s Twitter page.

The launch of the new car, the VJM04, was postponed in order to give it more development time, although the team has yet to confirm when it would make its debut.

FORCE INDIA AIMING FOR FIFTH PLACE

fter failing to grab sixth place by a whisker in the constructors’ championship last year, Force India is now aiming to step up its performance for 2011 hoping to secure its best results in the final standings.

The Silverstone-based squad has retained the services of Adrian Sutil for his fourth successive year with the team and promoted last season’s test driver Paul di Resta, who is the reigning DTM champion, to a race seat. Nico Hulkenberg, who impressed with a pole at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix with Williams, has replaced Di Resta’s position as a reserve.

With the line-up, the team’s COO Otmar Szafnauer is confident that the squad can achieve its goals this season.

“Well, what we want to do this year is start the year performing as well as last year, and keep that performance throughout,” he said. “And if we can do that we’d like to continue to score points regularly, as well as push for some podium positions. If we can do those things, fifth in the championship would be our target.”

Although, the team clinched its first podium position in 2009, it failed to add to its tally last season even though it started 2010 on a strong note. However, its performances deteriorated as Williams upped its game scoring 32 points in the last six grands prix compared to Force India’s nine in as many outings.

Source : www.f1pulse.com

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Di Resta and Sutil confirmed for 2011

Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil have been confirmed as Force India's driver pairing for 2011, while Nico Hulkenberg has been signed up as a reserve driver. The news means Tonio Liuzzi will not drive for the team this season despite having a contract.

Di Resta, who raced against and beat world champion Sebastian Vettel in the F3 Euroseries, drove in eight Friday practice sessions last season as well as winning the DTM title. On the strength of those performances he has been promoted to race driver at Force India, making him one of three British drivers lining up on the grid in 2011.

"I'm very excited for this, it's great to be doing this in Glasgow, announcing this news," he said. "Last year I became third driver here and good things happened so here's hoping we get more good things. I've not set any ambitions for this year, I want to enjoy it but Force India has plans and ambitions. I think Silverstone could be a personal highlight this year... I've had no advice from my family yet but I'm sure they'll offer it!"

He will line up alongside Sutil, who finished 11th in the drivers' standings and scored well over half the team's points in 2010. His previous contract expired at the end of last year but Force India has opted to renew it, meaning he will start his fifth consecutive season as a race driver at the team.

Race Report - Italian GP

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The Force India F1 Team has finished the Italian Grand Prix with Tonio Liuzzi in 12th and Adrian Sutil in 16th after a tough 53 lap race. After a disappointing qualifying yesterday in which he could not set a flying lap, Tonio made up seven positions from his starting slot and finished just a couple of seconds from the points
Adrian had a more turbulent race after a tricky first lap put him down at the rear of the field. As a strategic call he then pitted at the end of the lap to change to the harder tyre option to take advantage when the other drivers changed tyres later on. Back on track, Adrian started to scythe through the field and was up to 15th when he had to come back to pit for a new nosecone. This unscheduled stop then put him back to 16th and out of the points. Adrian Sutil (car 14, VJM03/03): 16th Tonio Liuzzi (car 15, VJM03/01): 12th Adrian Sutil (car 14) Obviously a very difficult race. The first lap was not good when I was pushed wide into the gravel in one of the early corners and lost a lot of positions. By the end of lap one I was at the end of the field so we decided to come in to change to the harder tyres as a strategic move to make up positions when the others pitted. I did my own race from that point on, which worked really well but we couldn’t get close to the points when I had to come in for the nosecone change. It’s one of those races where you hope to do better but I’m not too disappointed as it’s been a good season so far and there are still five races left.    Tonio Liuzzi (car 15) It was definitely a nice race to drive but from 19th position it was always going to be difficult to score points, particularly as there weren’t any safety cars. We had some good fights and in the end we finished in 12th position. We had a good car and I think we were quick enough to finish in the points today but when you are behind someone who is not that much slower than you it’s quite difficult to get past. I was pushing hard to pass Buemi and Rubens [Barrichello] but we were more or less at the same pace. Overall though we had a strong pace and it was a shame to just miss out on the points.    Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal Although we’re disappointed not to have scored points today we’ve got to look forward. The car was competitive enough to finish in the points today, with a good overall pace, which is what we have to focus on in the coming races. Both drivers were unlucky: Tonio’s qualifying issues made it difficult to score points and then with his problems on the first lap Adrian found himself too far down the field to be able to make in roads to the top 10. It’s a shame but we’ll pick ourselves up and take the challenge back in Singapore.

Preview - Italian GP

Tuesday ,7 September 2010 The Italian Grand Prix this weekend will be the final race of  the European season before the FIA Formula One World Championship embarks on a quintet of flyaway races in Asia and South America. We head to this historic event  looking to consolidate the form it showed at the previous  event in Spa-Francorchamps, where it secured its third double points finish of the 2010 season. Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal Yet again Spa was a good track for us, ultimately yielding a double  points finish for Adrian and Tonio. These points were crucial for us in the constructors’ championship, moving us 18 points clear of Williams for sixth, but it also showed that we’re back in business for the second  part of the season. The pace and the handling were both encouraging and,  with similar configuration tracks coming up in Monza, Japan and Brazil,  we’re hoping that this performance can be replicated. Of course we know that the on track fights will intensify and it’s not going to be easy to  consolidate our position but we feel the momentum is with us now. Adrian and Tonio both  raced very well and we’ve been given a real boost by the double points – we needed it after  a couple of frustrating weekends before the summer break. But we’re not sitting back based on this performance – we’ve been doing a lot of work back at the factory on the blown diffuser, and conducted a successful aero test last week to develop further.  We will also use a low downforce package to suit the top speeds we reach in Monza, which  is a further refinement of the Spa package. We’re cautiously optimistic and quietly confident – if  it all comes together I would hope we could show a similar level of performance and results to Spa,  but there are so many varying factors that you just can’t take anything for granted at this stage in the  season. Adrian Sutil - car 14, VJM03/03 Belgium was a great race weeked for us and something we really needed to take us into the second part of the season. It started well in practice, with the car very easy to drive and responding well to changes.  It felt quite easy to go out and set quick times so right from the start I believed we were in for a shot of a  good finish. Qualifying then went well, we got the weather calls almost exactly right and got back into the  top ten for the first time in a few races, which we really needed to do. It was a pretty exciting race after that and we were always towards the front of the field. Fifth was pretty  much the maximum we could do and I was delighted we could hold onto it with the weather changing and  then the safety cars. At the end only the championship contenders ahead of us so we can be satisfied. Based on the speed and handling of the car in Spa I’m now really looking forward to Monza. We don’t  have the top speed advantage we had last year so it’s going to be another close weekend, but we do know that we are amongst the quickest and that gives us a big chance to be in Q3 and then getting in the points.  I got a great finish there last year – fourth, my best finish in F1 so far, and to get that again would be amazing. Of course there’s a huge championship battle going on ahead of us so getting towards the front isn’t  going to be easy, but I’m confident, the team has got its momentum back after the double points finish in  Spa and we’re all going to Italy very optimistic.     Tonio Liuzzi - car 15, VJM03/01 I was really pleased to get that final point in Belgium: I had to work harder for that one point than almost any other I can remember in my F1 career. It was a really crazy race with the rain and then the battles with the other drivers but I really enjoyed the extra challenge of fighting back through the field. It was very satisfying after a tough weekend. We had some issues during practice, but as a team we worked together and found a solution just before qualifying. The team did such a good job to work night and day to give me the best possible car they could. Ultimately I believe we could have finished even higher as I got hit by another car early on that damaged my wing and then Vettel ran into me in the last part of the race. Overall though I enjoyed the challenge and the extra pressure mentally, especially when the difference between getting it right and wrong was so small. Next up I’ve got my home race in Italy, which is the same race I made my Force India race debut last year. It holds such great memories for me. Going into the race we had just had a fantastic result in Spa so the whole team was on a high, and we knew we had a great car going into Monza. I got the call and of course I was pretty nervous but I tried to build into the weekend and gradually improve. Then in qualifying I got into P7, which was such a fantastic feeling. Unfortunately in the race I had a mechanical problem when I was running in the top six but I really felt that I had done the maximum I could do. Now this year as always we want to perform, especially after last year. But it’s also not just that or because it’s my home crowd that I want to do well, I also want to get the result we deserve this season. We have narrowly missed out on really good results for a number of reasons this year, so I want to pull it all together. And if it’s at Monza, it’s true that it will be even more satisfying. The signs so far are good – the aero test we did showed a big improvement, the car is already strong and we’ve got a good programme for the race weekend in place. Paul di Resta, test and reserve driver I’m looking forward to Monza where I’ll be out again in free practice, this time replacing Adrian. It’s a special track that will require a very different approach to the other tracks I have driven. It’s low downforce, high speed and then heavy braking into the chicanes so it’s going to be another experience to put in the book. I’ve done some work in the simulator in preparation for the run and I’m hoping to get as much out of the session as possible. Of course the track has a very special atmosphere and while I’m there I’ll want to look into the history of it and see some of the old banking and track. With my little bit of Italian ancestry and some of my family still living in the country, hopefully I will feel very at home there. So it should be an interesting weekend, both professionally and personally. We’ll all work together to do as well as we can over the weekend, have the right approach from the start and develop the low downforce package. We showed well in Spa so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t show again in Monza. source : www.forceindiaf1.com(official forceindia site)