Paul di Resta will join Force India as the team’s third driver in 2010.
The team confirmed he will also get the chance to drive in Friday test sesions in order to learn the F1 tracks, raising the possibility of him driving for the team in 2011.
Di Resta said he was “ecstatic” to have the chance to move into F1. He added:
I think this programme is a perfect way to prepare fully and be ready to go if and when the chance of a race seat comes. I hope this will be the start of a long-term future with Force India.
Paul di Resta
Di Resta is backed by whiskey producer Whyte & Mackey, who sponsor Force India. He drove for the team during the young drivers’ test day at the end of last year.
The 23-year-old from Scotland beat Sebastian Vettel to the Formula Three Euroseries title in 2006 and has been racing for Mercedes in the DTM since then. Read more about di Resta here.
Read more: 2010 F1 drivers and teams
sijs
2nd February 2010, 12:25
Vitantonio last season was nowhere near Adrian.. This time he’ll be trashed by both Paul and Adrian.. Might even lose his place half way through the season..
Ned Flanders
2nd February 2010, 12:32
Any chance he might drive in GP2 or some other single seater series this season? DTM is no place to prepare for F1.
Scott Joslin
2nd February 2010, 12:34
Not unless Adrian calms down and stops getting caught up in silly accidents. He is no rookie any more and needs to settle down or he will be the one under threat.
PJA
2nd February 2010, 12:54
Good news for di Resta but it puts pressure on Sutil and Liuzzi as I can’t see Force India giving di Resta valuable track time and not planning on at least giving him a seat in 2011.
Also the race drivers will surely suffer from missing some Friday practice sessions during the year.
The first I heard about the possibility of this deal was from Martin Whitmarsh so I wonder to what extent Force India are doing this at the request of McLaren or Mercedes, even though it may harm their own race drivers performances.
wasiF1
2nd February 2010, 13:45
Should the rule be stated that on friday it is mandatory to use your third driver for testing in one car,as if there is a situation where you need to replace your regular driver then the test driver will have some confident in him.There were problem when Romain,Badoer & many more came in the middle of the season in 2009.
Icthyes
2nd February 2010, 13:52
I think this threatens Sutil more than Liuzzi. Adrian has been there a while and it’s time for him to move up (or stay at Force India, if they continue to improve like last year) if he wants to further his career, and to do that he needs to start putting in more performances and stop making silly mistakes. If he doesn’t, he might be the one for the chop, unless Liuzzi does very badly – even in which case, both might go.
speed0462
2nd February 2010, 13:54
good to see di Resta getting his drive in f1
hope he is promoted to racedriver in 2001
by the way
Isn’t Whyte and Mackay is owned by United Breweries
of which mallya is owner/chairman
so its indirectely it’s vjm who is sponsering di Resta
speed0462
2nd February 2010, 13:55
sorry i mean in 2011
Pengo
3rd February 2010, 8:00
Still no Indian driver??? USF1 has made is clear that they want an American driver in the future, Mercedes has Shui and Rosberg, McLaren has Button and Hamilton, yet no Indian driver even as a backup? C’mon Mallya, why?
Kav
3rd February 2010, 22:42
Because he would have the best driver he can get, rather than settle for an average driver.
I don’t rate Sutil at all compared to his peers, but he is much better than the available Indian drivers out there at the moment.
kaushal
5th February 2010, 10:59
Karun Chandhok is one of the possibility as Force India driver
JV
5th February 2010, 12:23
Karun Chandok is nowhere near even to Paul di Resta in terms of pace and talent.
Even his GP2 2009 teammate Alvaro parente destroyed him with 30 points to 10.So Karun is far down in the list.
sijs
3rd February 2010, 10:48
Force India are having a shakedown at Silverstone today.. Love to have sme spy shots..