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...

 

[FB]

Did he? Thought his career went Williams/McLaren/Red Bull/annoying git on the TV.

 

[teabagyokel]

FB - I think The Pits may be talking about the effect of DC's driving that McLaren...

 

[Bill Boddy]

Jackie Stewart nearly drove for Ferrari. Then he found out that the terms he thought that he had got were not the terms that he was going to race under so he declined.

 

[FB]

Yeah, I realised that after I posted the comment teabagyokel. Obviously had my irony radar turned off...

 

[The Pits]

FB and you invented the irony radar

 

[Il_leone]

teabagyokel

Button had the same result and came back strong in his 3rd year of F1 against the highly rated Trulli

Mansell lost to his teammates but still landed the drive at Williams which was the making of him

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives

there were rumours suggesting he was last year but I do think Hulkenberg is their No 1 target and is being asked to prove himself at Sauber to do so as a comparison against Perez's performances

Sauber is the Ferrari junior team after all - Massa, Kimi, Fisi

Like I said Ferrari will offer silly money to get their drivers


teabagyokel

I concur with that but then DI Resta needs to show he can be a team leader given that is his status now at Force India to prove to the big teams well Mercedes and Ferrari

unless Toto Wolff has got plans for him with the Mercedes link

I hate to say its Di Resta's turn to be in the Heidfeld position if his career does not move forward this year


Plutus

Massa is not getting younger and needs to show last season end was not a one off and he still has it therefore he needs to help Alonso beat Vettel to prove a point that he still has it

8 years at Ferrari is a long time and I am not sure if Felipe wants to put up with being No 2 and can;t drive freely

 

[Plutus]

Il_leone
I said Massa must prove his form in a previous post.

No racing driver wants to put up with the number two status but lets face the facts.
He has made himself the number two driver, by not being consistent, not being able to get the team on his side - although he was there since 2006 and has been affiliated with Ferrari since 2001.
He keeps on signing the new Ferrari contracts aswell, I don't think anyone is forcing him to do that, either he has got no other options or he his content with the situation.
And which other team capable of winning races would be interested in signing Massa? No one.
He also receives a good compensation for his duties - I believe he is one of the highest paid drivers in the paddock and that makes the whole situation a little more bearable for him as well.

Enough Massa here now, it's the Paul Di Resta Thread^^.

 

[Il_leone]

Luca since he has retaken control of the team over Jean Todt has always thought about successor planning ..so Di Resta not good enough to be team leader then ?

 

[FB]

Only one driver has managed to live up to the hype surrounding their entry in F1 in the last 20 years - Lewis Hamilton. I'm sure di Resta will make a very good No.2 in a top team or even win races in the US (like his cousin (?)). A team leader and future World Champion, I just don't see it.

 

[RasputinLives]

I think Paul has to pull the stops out this year coz otherwise he's on the Jarno Trulli highway.

Personally I can't make my mind up on him. He's steady but will he ever be spectacular? I just don't know.

 

[RasputinLives]

After a bit of a back of the grid clear out this winter that unless Force India sign and old boy in the next few weeks that the Andre De Cessaris belt for most Grand Prix without winning one will be jointly held by Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg who both have 39 starts.

I think they jointly hold the pierluggi Martini belt for most races without a podium too.

 

[Il_leone]

I think DI Resta is the only teammate to have beaten Vettel right over a season

--

Now he keeps talking about wanting the competitive drive so really he has to do it this season because Force India know he won't hang around to be for the minor placings

Really he has to do it this season because his career will suffer like Nick Heidfeld's did

 

[RasputinLives]

Paul Di Resta has not even beaten his own team mate on F1 yet

 

[teabagyokel]

RasputinLives - Super Cucumber to the rescue...!

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

I think the reason few top teams might not go for di Resta is he's a bit boring at times. I think that's why Mclaren were put off going for him. If he fails to land a top seat for 2014 i'm sure Mercedes DTM team would love to have him back. However, I hope di Resta shows his true talent this year .

 

[teabagyokel]

It would be bad for di Resta's career if he is teamed with Karthikeyan because when he batters the living falafel out of Narain, no-one is going to be surprised or impressed.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Surely that's a joke about Karthikeyan right?

 

[teabagyokel]

HammydiRestarules - No, not really. Its a problem that's faced Nico Rosberg - no-one's ever known if he's a great driver because his team-mates since 2006 have been long past their sell-by date (Schumacher, Wurz) or came free with the engines (Nakajima). Di Resta simply can't win if he's pitched into that situation. Beat Karthikeyan and he's joined Tiago Monteiro, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Pedro de la Rosa - hardly a list of greats. If Karthikeyan comes close to him his F1 career is simply over.

 

[Brogan]

Di Resta ' s career is simply over.

Fixed that for you teabagyokel