Let me tell you something: Paul di Resta's surprise sixth place in qualifying for the British Grand Prix was not a flash in the pan. The 25 year old Scot, who has scored two points this season, has acquitted himself impeccably to the world of F1 yet has remained rather anonymous amongst some quarters.
Take this for example: as the cars made their way into the pits at the conclusion of Q2, a brief silence descended over this famous airfield. Silverstone circuit commentator Ian Titchmarsh then listed the names of those who made into the final part of qualifying and the announcement of di Resta, who was ninth quickest in Q2, was met with a hint of surprise followed by a very loud cheer. This patriotic appreciation was replicated at the conclusion of Q3, when the showers ensured di Resta would start his home race in sixth, only beaten by Jenson Button as top British runner.
With the British in sporting circumstances, expectations are raised too highly or not at all and given the reaction towards di Resta's qualifying efforts, I'd say he fits in with the latter. This may be down to the fact that the two other Brits in the field, Button and Lewis Hamilton, are past world champions thus have a much larger fan base. However, this won't be the case for too much longer. Many are tipping Di Resta to leave Force India after the end of his rookie season and he will have plenty of suitors.
Much has been made of Hamilton's character possibly jeopardising a switch to Red Bull. Yet after seeing the coverage of di Resta since his switch to F1, he would fit in at Milton Keynes seamlessly. I am not certain he would be their preferred candidate should Mark Webber depart, but you see my point. di Resta is a very talented yet unaffected young man and has won plenty of admirers in his short motor racing career thus far.
You see, di Resta has already beaten world champion Sebastian Vettel in almost identical machinery. In the 2006 Formula Three Euroseries, the Brit won the title by 11 points from Vettel and took five race wins. Their career paths since then have been dissimilar to say the least and unlike Vettel who shone at BMW and Toro Rosso before joining Red Bull in 2009, di Resta found his path into top level single seaters blocked.
His strong backing from Mercedes sealed him a place in DTM, a somewhat unconventional route into Grand Prix racing. After finishing fifth, second and third in his first three years of touring car racing, di Resta took the prestigious prize at the third attempt. His championship winning year was coupled with eight Friday morning practice sessions for Force India. As their third driver, he replaced Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi alternately. By the end of 2010, he could not be held back anymore.
The Scot has shone since his first race in Australia. He finished tenth after both Sauber's were disqualified and repeated that feat in Malaysia two weeks later. He made it into Q3 in China and qualified eighth, before running strongly in both Monaco and Montreal, only for rookie errors to undo all his good work. However, he is a fast learner and mistakes are to be expected from rookies, right? He will stay at Force India for the remainder of the season, and maybe even next, but it does seem only a matter of time before he is given competitive machinery, comparable to his former adversary, Vettel. He may even come out on top again.
Josh.
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