Midseason Report: Grading Force India's Paul di Resta

 

Make no mistake about it, 2013 is a massive season for Scotsman Paul di Resta as he enters his third full season as a Formula One driver.

Di Resta made a massive impression in his debut season alongside Adrian Sutil, finishing in the points on eight separate occasions. It led David Coulthard to tip his countryman to become one of the top drivers in the sport in an interview with The Sun (subscription required).

But as Sutil was forced to miss the season after a conviction for causing grievous bodily harm to Lotus shareholder Eric Lux, Di Resta was expected to carry the mantle in 2012. New teammate Nico Hulkenberg refused to read the script, however, and outpointed Di Resta before moving onto Sauber.

So here we are, Di Resta and Sutil reunited for 2013. And the pressure is on with Sutil just 13 points behind and Di Resta telling Sky Sports the car was the worst it had felt all year after Hungary qualifying.

Sutil laid down the challenge in Australia when he led a Grand Prix for the first time before finishing a place ahead of Di Resta in seventh. It was a good start for both drivers, but it quickly turned into a catastrophe in Malaysia after the German followed Di Resta into retirement as a precaution due to problems with the captive wheel nut system.

Di Resta enjoyed the stronger race in China, fighting his way from 11th to eighth by the finish as Esteban Gutierrez punted Sutil out of the race, but his standout drive of the season came in Bahrain when he looked set for a first podium until Romain Grosjean hunted him down on fresher tyres to pass with just five laps remaining.

Afterward, the Scot told BBC Sport that it had been his best ever race:

 

Di Resta was delighted with fourth in Bahrain

That was probably my strongest Grand Prix.
The podium was very close, but with our strategy we were always going to be vulnerable, especially to Grosjean who had two new sets of medium tyres.
I had a good start to the race, a strong opening stint and we showed our true speed today, but ultimately fourth place was the maximum that was possible.
We will get on the podium one day, hopefully soon, but for now we can be very happy with the points we've scored today.

Di Resta backed up his strong Bahrain outing with seventh in Spain and was tucked up behind pole-sitter Nico Rosberg’s gearbox at the finish, with less than a second separating the scrapping pair. But things were about to take a turn for the worse.

Qualifying quandaries
A disastrous qualifying in Monaco saw Di Resta line up 17th on the grid, but he was aided by a number of retirements to again make it into the points albeit four places behind his teammate. It would be a sign of things to come.
A third seventh-place finish in Canada was all the more impressive given that he again started at 17th on the grid due to gearbox software issues during qualifying before carving his way through the field. Relationships had been strained between the Scot and his team on Saturday when he blamed his team’s performance as "unacceptable" in an interview with BBC Sport. But a day later a somewhat calmer Di Resta told the same broadcaster that his strong race had helped to build bridges.

Di Resta's fury after Canada qualifying turned to relief after a strong raceIt was taken constructively. Everybody in the team felt the same.But we regrouped, showed we can do it and, as far as my relationship with the team is concerned, it's still good.

The person who made the mistake apologised and I'm fully supportive of that. It's just unfortunate it happened two weeks in a row, which is where the anger was.Looking back, I don't think I was too harsh. When you work with the team so closely, it's good to have that heat because you need to show your emotion.
If I'd twice made a mistake, I'd be kicking myself and the team would come down hard on me - and rightly so.

Unbelievably, lightning struck for the third race in succession during qualifying for his home Grand Prix at Silverstone. Di Resta had expressed himself as “over the moon” in his now familiar post-session interview with BBC Sport having qualified fifth before being excluded for having an underweight car.
This time the Scot vented his fury on the race track, carving his way through to seventh.
It would be his final points finish of the first half of the season, 11th- and 18th-place finishes in Germany and Hungary leaving him 10th in the drivers’ standings, three behind McLaren’s Jenson Button.

Di Resta was happy with ninth in Britain after another qualifying nightmare

Paul’s midseason marks
Temperament: 6/10
Qualifying: 6/10
Race craft: 8/10
Summary: Spectacularly lost his cool with his team in Canada and but for three qualifying horror shows he could have been much higher up the table. Strong race showings in adversity have shown exactly what a good racer he is.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com

Exclusive Adrian Sutil Q&A: I want to get back to scoring points

Adrian Sutil may have spent 2012 on the sidelines, but he started the 2013 season as if he’d never been away, taking his Force India to a strong seventh place finish in Australia. The 30-year-old German has scored points on three other occasions since then, but found himself outside of the top ten in both Germany and Hungary - something he’s determined to make amends for when the second half of the season gets underway in Belgium in less than two weeks’ time…

Q: Adrian, there’s a lot of talk at the moment about who might move where in the driver market. You’ve stayed remarkably quiet. Do you know something that we don’t?
Adrian Sutil: To be honest, I‘m focused on now and on the next races. There are so many rumours flying around, but my guess is that nobody really knows what’s going on behind closed doors. Formula One is a complicated sport where a lot of aspects have to be taken into account before decisions are made - and sometimes these decisions are quite surprising! (laughs)
Q: You seem to have justified the faith Force India showed by giving you a race seat in 2013. How much of a desire is there on your part to stay where you are?
AS: If I do my job well and they are happy, there will be good possibilities to stay. Sahara Force India will be the first team we talk with about the 2014 season.
Q: It is every driver’s desire to move to the very top. If you could make a wish that comes true, where would you want to go?
AS: Every driver has the goal to win races and to fight for the championship. If you don’t have that burning desire you’re in the wrong place. But, of course, you need the right car to fight for wins. So naturally the best car is what I want to be in. So unsurprisingly Ferrari and Mercedes are F1 teams that I like very much. But I guess that answer doesn’t really come as a surprise…
Q: Why?
AS: Both are very big, iconic brands and have a long tradition in Formula One racing.
Q: How sure are you that you’ll stay in F1? Do you have a ‘plan B’ in the back of your head?
AS: No plan B. My one and only plan is to have a long and successful career in F1!
Q: Your team mate, Paul di Resta, has said that the team has let things slip in the last couple of races - how do you see that?
AS: All of us, the drivers and the team, should push very hard to be successful. We had a very strong start to the season, but for the last few races it’s much closer in the midfield so the tension is up. But there should be some circuits in the second half where we can be strong again.
Q: Force India have had small slumps in the past, but then picked up when the calendar moves to circuits that have suited the car better, such as Spa and Monza. How likely is that to happen again this year?
AS: Well, we have to see how much the others will improve over the next weeks, but yes, my hope is that the next circuits will make things easier again for us. It’s a nice and cozy feeling to be a permanent point-scorer so we want to get back there!
Q: What have you been doing so far in the summer break and what do you have planned for the remaining time you have off? Will you be relaxing?
AS: I had a very nice fitness week in Finland with my coach. The rest of the time I will stay at ‘home, sweet home’ and relax. I’ll be doing normal things that you hardly have time to do when you’re permanently travelling, like going to the movies or doing the couch-potato thing in front of the TV. Or I’ll play the piano.
Q: The next stop on the calendar is Spa, a track where Force India had its moments of glory in the past. Are you expecting something similar in two weeks’ time?
AS: Yes, I’m convinced we will be strong in Spa. I like the circuit very much. It’s a really challenging one - a racers track! So watch out for us!

Source: Formula1.com

Di Resta admits Force India has slipped

Paul di Resta believes his Force India team has "let things slip" in the last few races and needs to raise its game after the summer break.

Force India was among the strongest teams behind the frontrunners in the early part of the season, but failed to score a point in the last two races in Germany and Hungary.

That has allowed McLaren to close right up in the constructors' standings, with the British team now just two points behind in sixth position.

Both di Resta and team-mate Adrian Sutil were hit by hydraulic issues in the Hungarian Grand Prix last month.

The Scot admitted things have not been going as well as they should.

"I trust the team will have a lot of ideas as we go into the summer break," said di Resta.

"I think they have done a great job up until now, but we've let things slip slightly as a team in the last couple of grands prix.

"They're good guys and I believe they can work their way and come up with a solution."

The Force India driver is hopeful Force India will be stronger at Spa, which he expects to suit his car better.

"The track [the Hungaroring] didn't suit us; hopefully when we get to Spa with our lower downforce it will suit us," he added.

"We need to be doing a better job towards the end of the year and we'll try and do that as a unit."

Source: Autosport.com

Mallya: Force India will fight

Vijay Mallya has called on Force India to get a better understanding of Pirelli's new tyres so they can fight McLaren when F1 reconvenes in Belgium after the summer break.

The Silverstone-based team's recent slump continued in Hungary, where they failed to score points for the second time in as many races. In the event, Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil retired after their cars both suffered hydraulic problems but, as was the case in Germany, they had failed to show the sort of pace they previously managed.

In contrast, McLaren picked up a double points finish for the second straight race and have closed to within two points of Force India and fifth place in the constructors' standings.

Having made their best-ever start to a season, Mallya admitted that his team have been thrown off-kilter by the revised tyre construction, which was made for safety reasons after the series of blowouts at the British GP in June.

"We've spent a lot of time, energy and resource understanding these tyres, which have played a very important part this whole season," Mallya said after the Hungarian GP.


"We obviously were on top of it, because that is reflected in our performance. Halfway through, we're still ahead of McLaren, we're still fifth in the constructors'. That's because of our performance in the first half and the points we've scored.

"The trouble in Germany as well as here, after the change in the tyres, is because the drivers have not been as comfortable. In Budapest, particularly Paul has been uncomfortable with the tyres all weekend; it has shown in his performance and his timing.

"Adrian, on the other hand, has got the tyres to work for him. He qualified in 11th spot and would have made Q3 by 0.02s [less lap time] - which is unlucky, but it happens. It was by the smallest of margins.

"The way he was running [in the race], had he not suffered that unfortunate hydraulic failure, I would have predicted that he would have finished in the points.

"It's not right to admonish the car. The car is fine. It's just that the tyre change needs better understanding. It's working for Adrian at times and not working for Paul. We need to just smooth this out, get a better understanding of the tyres and move forward."

Source: http://web.orange.co.uk

Di Resta: We have to regroup

Paul di Resta insists that Force India must work to regroup over the summer break on the back of a disappointing weekend in Hungary.

For the second successive race, the Sahara-backed team failed to score after the Scot and team-mate Adrian Sutil were both sidelined by hydraulics problems.

It capped a disappointing end to the first half a season that had promised much for the Silverstone-based team and while it stays ahead of McLaren in the standings, its advantage has been cut down to two points.

Speaking to the Press Association, di Resta admitted that Force India now need to regroup during the summer break to come back stronger at Spa.

"It's at the end of the race where you need to be scoring points, but that race didn't allow us in any way to fight the people we should have been," he said of the Hungarian event. "We need to get some rest. But equally we need to get ourselves together because over the last few weekends we've missed some opportunities and other people have overtaken us.

"We've some work to do, but I've faith in the team everyone will be working hard when we return because when this unit works together you can see it rewards us in great ways.

"We need to get the car working in the zone it works in. In Hungary it was very much on edge, difficult to drive. You get weekends like that. Maybe the tracks haven't suited us, but we can't really single that out.

"We have to regroup, analyse properly and get to the next grand prix when hopefully it will be a fresh start like at the beginning of the year when we seemed to be punching way above our weight."

Di Resta added that it was important for the team to make sure that the hard work that has gone into the season already isn't allowed to go to waste.

“I don't want to let this championship slip away," he said. "We started off excellently, and there is no reason why we can't recapture that form."

Source : Crash.net

Hungary GP - Race - Force India driver quotes

Paul di Resta (18th)
“I made a good start and was very aggressive on the opening lap. I think I was up to about P12, but from there on it was difficult because I was struggling with the balance and tyre performance. Without the speed we did not have the flexibility to make the strategy work and points were looking out of reach. Towards the end of the race the team called me to the pits because it seems we had picked up a hydraulic issue, similar to the problem with the other car. Over the summer break we will regroup, analyse things properly and take a fresh approach into the second part of the year.”

Adrian Sutil (DNF)
“It’s disappointing not to finish, especially as the race was coming back to me after a poor start on the medium tyres. Just before my pit stop I had a problem with the gear shifts and I could not shift up any more. I came into the pits and it became clear we had a hydraulic problem so the team immediately told me to park the car.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal and managing director
“It’s not been the easiest of weekends for us and it’s disappointing to come away from Budapest without any points. Adrian celebrated his 100th Grand Prix this weekend, but he remained out of luck in Hungary and had to retire early with a hydraulic problem. His strategy was looking good so he missed a chance of points today. Paul’s race was quite straightforward, but we did not have the speed to make his three-stop strategy work - despite his superb start. With a few laps to go we noticed a similar hydraulic issue with his car and he also had to retire. With the next race coming up in four weeks’ time, we will analyse our performance and work hard to recapture our form in Spa.”


Source: F1.com

Hungary GP Qualifying - Force India driver quotes

Adrian Sutil (11th, Q2 - 1m 20.569s)
“The first part of qualifying was quite tricky and it was difficult to deliver the pace we expected. I had a good feeling with the car, but we were not especially quick and I was only P15 by the end of Q1. I did not really know where we were losing out, but the team made some adjustments and that improved things for Q2. My lap times were much better and for a while it looked like I was going to make the top ten, but then I got pushed down to P11 at the last moment. I’m happy with my lap and that was the limit for me today. P11 is a good place to start because it leaves us with more of a choice about the tyre strategy. The goal tomorrow is to push forward and try to score some points.”

Paul di Resta (18th, Q1 - 1m 22.043s)
“A tough session and I am a bit confused as to why we struggled so much on the soft tyre. Throughout all the sessions we’ve looked more competitive on the softs, but in Q1 they just didn’t switch on. We’ve given ourselves a lot of work to do tomorrow, but we will go away and come back refreshed and ready to fight. We need to move forward so we will think hard tonight about the strategy, but at least we have plenty of new tyres available. I think the main puzzle we need to solve is what happened to our performance today so that we can bounce back tomorrow.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Force India chief operating officer
“Finding the sweet spot with both cars has proved difficult this weekend and I think we saw the result of that in today’s qualifying performance. Adrian squeezed through to Q2 and set a time good enough to put him on the cusp of the top ten. That’s about where we expected our performance level to be and hopefully he can score points tomorrow. The changes made to Paul’s car ahead of qualifying certainly helped our performance on the medium tyres, but he struggled for speed on the softs. That’s something we will try to understand tonight because we expected him to be much higher up the grid. It’s a tough track for overtaking, but we will do all we can to give Paul a strategy to bring him into the points.”

Source : Formula1.com