Paul di Resta

Just realised we don't have a thread on the young Scot and there's something I have to get off my chest but, first, here's some history.

A real sporting family, his cousins are the Franchitti brothers and his step father was Scottish footballer Dougie McCracken (no, I'd never heard of him either but he played for Ayr, Dunbarton and East Fife). As ever, started in karting before moving to Formula Renault with Manor Motorsport. He was Formula 3 Euroseries champion in 2006 before moving on to DTM.

With Mercedes backing he was lined up for a drive with Force India in 2009 but FI chose to continue with their '08 driver line up. As test driver in 2010 for FI di Resta finally secured a seat for the 2011 season alongside Adrian Sutil scoring points on his debut and having a highest finish to date of 7th in Hungary.

Anyway, as to my moan. At the pre-race interviews at Spa di Resta complained that he only qualified 18th as the team called him in telling him he was "safe" to get into Q2. Can someone explain why the drivers don't argue with their teams in these situations? He must have seen the track was drying and the grip improving so why doesn't he "grow a pair" and tell them he wants to carry on? It's all too easy to abdicate responsibilty, you're in the car mate, tell them what you think.

And relax...

 

[Soumya Banerjee]

He's always so full of excuses!!!! That said,i think he would have been a lot more popular had it not been for the way in which the British media has portrayed him. He's a decent driver,didnt get humiliated by Sutil and had a pretty good first half of 2012. But i think its time for the British media to find another blue-eyed boy....

 

[Il_leone]

lets see how he reacts to this then

 

[teabagyokel]

Two years, two defeats is the sad story.

 

[RasputinLives]

Di Resta set out to be like his hero DC in F1 and has succeded.

As we know DC always lost to his team mate and a german driver. Di Resta has made it more efficent by always losing to his German team mate.

 

[F1ang-o]

Paul DR is on BBC TV '...now......on Question of Sport' ...it has just started.
it's a repeat of Wednesday's prog....

 

[Brogan]

Force India have finally confirmed di Resta for 2013.

http://www.forceindiaf1.com/paul-di-resta

 

[RasputinLives]

Well that puts pay to that speculation then. Good news for Paul.

No mention of him being paid for by Merc in that profile though......

 

[Il_leone]

I remember reading it on a live BBC practice feed saying Di Resta is contracted to Mercedes and therefore had a choice of teams Mclaren, Merc and Force India to get drives through that was back in 2011 so unless things have changed since

I put a thread a post on the other day and it said he was one of the lower paid drivers on the grid at £200,000 a year by Force India.... only Pic is paid lower
The same post page says Schumacher is only paid £7m a year by Mercedes when its clearly not the case

 

[Il_leone]

If Di Resta wants a better drive then he's got to step up this season no matter who his teammate is or will be

 

[RasputinLives]

I'm pretty sure he was paid by Merc when he drove for them in DTM other than that I couldn't say.

Seems a strange arrangement if they do. I mean Ferrari don't pay Bianchi and didn't pay Perez.

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives

A few seasons ago Sutil was quoted to be paid by his sponsors and not paid by Force India.and I find Di Resta's salary a bit low for what he has managed to achieve so far in F1


on a good note is Di Montezemolo is now saying no to Alonso - Vettel at Ferrari so DI Resta has been given a lifeline possibly

 

[RasputinLives]

Yes a soft drinks company, not another team. Merc aren't a sponsor.

Are you saying Di Resta will move to Ferrari? Would Merc pay his wages there too?

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives

if Di Resta moved to Ferrari I'd think Mercedes would cut ties permanently because I am sure he would be offered a much bigger salary than he is on now

- Ferrari have a history of over paying drivers

Id say Di Resta is in with a shot of the Ferrari seat possibly if he proves himself this season but he is up against Hulkenberg who I think is the driver who will emerge this season and the big teams will queue up for him

 

[Plutus]

Are you saying Di Resta will move to Ferrari? Would Merc pay his wages there too?

Not a chance in hell of Paul di Resta moving to Ferrari, as long as he can't even beat his teammates and Felipe Massa can
repeat his end of season form for 2013.
I don't rate Sutil as being any better than Massa, therefore I don't see a reason why Ferrari should opt for Di Resta.

 

[Il_leone]

Plutus

I don;t see what Ferrari will gain from another year with Massa
he's been since 2006 so that is his 8th season with the team

The only person who I think has managed a longer career at Ferrari is Schumacher but he he won 5 titles in 10 years

I've already said Di Resta needs to up his game this season and that means he has got to get the Force India amongst Lotuses and Mercedes for a start and ahead of Sauber and Williams

Di Resta is younger than Massa by 5 years at least for a start and supposedly can beat Vettel in the same team based on his Euro F3 record

I am not sure how much Pat Fry saw of Di Resta when he was at Mclaren and Di Resta was test driver but he can provide backing that he is a good driver or not

As I said his main opponent for the Ferrari seat will be Hulkenberg

 

[teabagyokel]

Il_leone - The problem for Paul when it comes to a competition against the Hulk is that if Hulk keeps doing well, teams can point to 2012 in that comparison.

 

[Plutus]

Il_leone
He - Massa - does however do somewhat of a solid job looking from the perspective of the Ferrari staff otherwise they wouldn't have kept him for this season.
Being at Ferrari for 8 years isn't really a reason, why they should replace him.
Let us wait and see how strong the teams are this coming season, I don't see Force India challenging Williams nor Sauber and therefore certainly not Lotus and Mercedes.
The car has barely changed and the team is in financial difficulties, the only person he seriously needs to beat is his teammate.

Of course he could beat Vettel in F3, but Formula One is whole new challenge, just look at Pizzonia, he rocked every category he drove in but he was outclassed by Webber. not just that but drivers to develop throughout there career Di Resta may have just peaked with barely any room for improvement.

If Massa hangs on to his form until 2015, Ferrari might as well wait and sign Perez, they seem to use McLaren as an academy anyway, they did a similar thing with Raikkonen^^.

 

[RasputinLives]

Surely if Paul is being paid by Merc he wouldn't be allowed to beat them?

I don't think Di Resta is currently on the Ferrari radar so he'd have to have a very good year! If you think they didn't go with Perez last season then he really has to do something spectacular.

 

[FB]

Has a Scotsman every driven for Ferrari?

 

[The Pits]

David Coulthard in 2003?