Di Resta: Force India ‘pushing to beat McLaren’

2013 Chinese Grand Prix

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Paul di Resta says Force India are focused on trying to stay ahead of McLaren in the early stages of the 2013 season.

“We appear to be in a good position at the moment, but no one can say where we will be compared to our rivals after the next two races,” he said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend.

“We know McLaren are a very strong team and they will develop well, so all we can do is continue pushing hard to try and stay ahead of them. We have been doing a good job so far – better than many people expected – but there’s a long way to go.”

Both Force Indias finished ahead of the McLarens in Melbourne. However their race in Malaysia was ruined when a fault with their captive wheel system forced them to retire both cars.

“We were confident of bringing both cars home in the points until the wheel nut issue let us down,” said team principal Vijay Mallya. “We’ve had three weeks to understand what went wrong and have worked hard [to] fix the root cause of the problem.”

However Di Resta is encouraged by the pace the team have shown so far. Team mate Adrian Sutil was fastest in Q1 at Sepang.

“We can take some positives from the performance we showed on the track,” said Di Resta. “We looked to be one of the fastest cars during the early part of the race. It’s a good sign for the rest of the season.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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27 comments on “Di Resta: Force India ‘pushing to beat McLaren’”

  1. Force India’s success is very important for it’s owners to reap a profit from the team. If they can score a podium or victory this season it will be a great achievement.
    However, it is understood that the team will shift focus to the 2014 car by mid-season which may hamper development of this year’s car.

    1. Also as an Indian I really hope Force India does well to promote F1 in India. No sport can succeed in India unless a local team/player does well.

      1. @malleshmagdum
        You have two local players, VJM and Sahara chief, they poured an enormous amount of money in to get two great drivers and proper upgrades (both facility wise and cars’) and the techs have done amazingly well for the team, but alas, they are now in a terrible state of personal financial affairs, and even though I don’t want to I have to agree with @full-throttle-f1.

        I still think that it will be thier last season before they get bought out.

        It’s his last sentence that I disagree with. Not the Russian part, but the September part.

        @prisoner-monkeys: Sauber will continue to struggle, another team who should go back to their last season’s car, might I add? But yes, McLaren will jump back with their “one and half” drivers. ;)

    2. Honestly, I think the only reason why they’re doing so well for themselves at the moment is because McLaren and Sauber are struggling. Force India themselves aren’t much of a threat to Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes or Lotus.

      1. Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
        8th April 2013, 11:16

        I still think that it will be thier last season before they get bought out.

        I’m putting £10 on that they will have to be bailed out by September by someone Russian.

        1. MALLI (@mallikarjuna)
          10th April 2013, 7:06

          u got a mail or msg from team owners of forceindia or what?.

      2. force india were on par with mercedes at malaysian gp and better then anyone in terms of tyre managment and much faster then ferrari,lotus.
        So,without the problem they would hv 4 sure finished in top 5 with both car.

        1. I don’t think force India were on a par with Mercedes, certainly not to the extent that Button was, but I do believe they could have taken 6th and 7th from the lotuses, and possibly 5th place from Massa as well. For a team in financial dire straits though that’s a pretty decent pace

          1. MALLI (@mallikarjuna)
            10th April 2013, 7:07

            laptimes suggests they r on par with mercedes.

      3. Mclaren will be back on song before long and even with their compromised car Button looked set to beat both Force India’s in Malaysia before the pit stop error. Force India are currently being flattered by the other teams woes but it won’t last. Actually, I am expecting Mclaren to show that they are coming back into the game at the next race, I think some people will be genuinely shocked how much Mclaren will have improved by China.

        1. The main reason McLaren enjoyed such a great improvement in pace between Aus and Malaysia’s is because the track surface in Malaysia is significantly smoother, and most of McLarens problems seem to lie in their suspension and ride height so yes I’m sure they will be relatively strong in China but their weaknesses will show again probably mainly on the street circuits.

          1. The ride problems are aero related. The diffuser flow is detaching causing a phenomenon known as porpoising. This makes the car look like it is reacting violently to bumps. The team took a hack saw to the diffuser in Malaysia after a few flo-vis runs and revealed the development direction they’d been searching for. It’s just a matter of time before they make the parts they need.

      4. MALLI (@mallikarjuna)
        10th April 2013, 7:05

        lol stupid comment . redbull and ferrari doing so well bcoz mclrean is struggling right?

        1. No, have you read the article? Don’t just scan down the comments and reply to the one that annoys you the most. Read the article top which the comments relate and then you might refrain from making irrelevant remarks.

          Force India is fairng better than would ordinarily be the case because Mclaren is out of position currently. Which won’t last.

  2. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    8th April 2013, 10:21

    With all the financially troubling talk at the end of last season about Force India, I really didn’t expect them to be the standout team of the mid field. Kudos to them :)

    Perhaps they’ve received some extra cash from all of Mallya’s tax evading, huehuhuehue. ;)

    Tbh would’ve thought Sauber would’ve made the jump, but no, it looks like their car just isn’t as fundamentally quick as last years one.

    1. Sauber, a bit like McLaren, have almost started again with the C32. That move surprised me, to be honest – they had a great thing going with the C31, not to mention next year’s changes and the fact they’re more cash strapped than the teams above them so they’re going to have to work harder to make it work.

      I can only hope that they, along with McLaren, might begin to reap some benefits as the season goes on and the other teams who went for evolution (rather than revolution) may begin to hit a brick wall on the development front.

      1. Sauber have designed a lot of carry over into this year’s car quite shrewdly. Those tiny sidepods will be de rigeur next year. They’re taking a pain now to have a headstart next year which makes sense for a team that can’t afford to run simultaneous programmes on 2 cars.

        1. @coefficient Ah, I didn’t know the sidepods were a nod to 2014! Fingers crossed!

  3. @keithcollantine *race in Malaysia*
    Sorry to be a narky!

  4. You know what they (don’t) say…

    If you can’t join them, beat them.

  5. Di Resta: “I’m all jealous about McLaren picking Perez instead of me, so I’m going to (cry) beat them!”

    1. Sure it’s got to feel good to be battling with the McLarens for Di Resta but his main priority should be his teammate or else it is bye bye F1 for him.

  6. However their race in China was ruined when a fault with their captive wheel system forced them to retire both cars.

    I know we are all looking forward to the next race, but..

  7. looks like @keithcollantine has made the ultimate prediction here :p

  8. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    8th April 2013, 14:37

    Let’s hope this historic rivalry endures! I think with 4 constructors at the front, there is no need for a 5th team. In fact, it would be great if McLaren continues on its current trajectory and assumes a leadership position in the midfield.

    I don’t see Toro Rosso and Williams being much of a threat to them this season but McLaren could really “energize” the midfield competing against Force India and Sauber and make racing more exciting.

    I think McLaren can score a symbolic midfield Drivers and Constructors Championship which is no laughing matter in F1. For their drivers that also plays to their advantages too as Jenson is the cream of the crop in the midfield and we can see him duking it out with Hulkenberg lap in and lap out for extra entertainment. For Perez it will be familiar territory and he can also assert a leadership spot.

    What’s next? Midfield team orders? “Checo, drop to P10 please! Jenson is faster than you”

  9. Force India have constantly improved every year with a tight budget, i hope they win a race this season, i hope they do it in India, might attract more investment to the team.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      9th April 2013, 18:20

      fo sure they will try to do an outstanding performance in India, but I just hope they don’t get Karun in one of the seats for commercial purposes.

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