Di Resta expects to lose Force India F1 seat

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In the round-up: Paul di Resta doubts he will keep his place in F1 next year.

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Di Resta fears he won’t have F1 drive (The Telegraph)

“Mr Charles Hollander QC, representing the claimant, told the court that he had received a notice from di Resta’s legal team in recent days informing them that the 27 year-old did not believe he would be driving in Formula One next year.”

Lewis Hamilton’s father hits out at F1 driver Paul Di Resta over accusations of incompetence (The Independent)

“Anthony Hamilton told the High Court in London that Paul Di Resta’s allegations ‘attracted a lot of bad press and has had a serious effect on my family and my business’.”

Vettels neuer Bulle? (Bild)

Illustration of how next year’s Red Bull RB10 might look by Craig Scarborough.

Sauber: late revival won’t hurt 2014 (Autosport)

Head of trackside engineering Tom McCullough: “Yes, we had to do a little bit more on the 2013 car than we wanted to but there has been a team working very hard on that and a lot of the lessons we have learned with sorting out this car will apply to next year’s car as well.”

SuperTouringSeries to take over from Superstars (Touring Car Times)

“The new organisers of the championship are Pan Asia Racing Enterprise Ltd. (PARE Ltd), whose CEO is Daniel Audetto, who has worked as a managing director in Formula 1 in recent years at the Super Aguri and HRT F1 teams.”

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Comment of the day

New Jersey resident Brian on his chances of having a grand prix on his doorstep in the near future:

No surprise here in regards to the New Jersey Grand Prix. I live about two miles from the proposed site and drive through it everyday on my commute to and from work. The main problem is the two large apartment complexes being constructed adjacent to the track. Until these are completed, there is no chance that any progress on the track (at least along the water) can be made.

I am happy to hear though that it is “delayed” and not scrapped altogether. I ride my bike along the track frequently, and there is no doubt in my mind an F1 race here would be epic!
Brian K

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On this day in F1

On this day last year the FIA confirmed it had scrapped planned to reduce downforce levels in F1 in 2014 and dropped a plan to make cars run on electric power only while in the pits.

Image © Force India

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82 comments on “Di Resta expects to lose Force India F1 seat”

  1. If Seb’s car looks like that next year, a fitting name would be Hungry Herman

    1. @mnm101 hahaha !

      Disturbing Garry
      No-Pants Mike
      Hanging Willy

      so many names…

      1. Kate’s ugly sister

      2. Nosejob Natasha?

      3. Jack (@jackisthestig)
        5th December 2013, 1:42

        Dog-Rough Danielle?

      4. Nasty Bee.

      5. Beer-goggles Belinda

      6. Mark’s wife

      7. I believe Top Gear addressed this when Audi released the A8/S8, which was designed by Mick Dick; they also suggested: Roger Todger, Jock Cock…

        Seb’s got a few excellent choices to choose from…

    2. Durex would be a logical sponsor.

      1. I think a very high proof alcohol should be the sponsor as it’s incredibly ugly ;)

    3. I actually think that (besides that ghastly nose extension) it looks pretty good!

      1. Yeah, she’s quite pretty, if you ignore her hideous face…

        1. Butterface Brenda?

          1. hands down, the best suggestion.

          2. Winner!

      2. A case of nice legs shame about the face.

        v=X7r5RYThiHM”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7r5RYThiHM

        1. hahaha! Well pointed out :)

    4. David not Coulthard (@)
      5th December 2013, 9:00

      The (fertilisation “tool”)-fitted girl? Sorry :(

  2. A bit disappointed di Resta is gone. :/

    1. Me too, I think he was doing a good job, and there’s also that Scottish link. I’m not used to having no Scots in F1.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        5th December 2013, 1:45

        @peartree if you compare how good DC was, there’s no way we can miss Paul as a great example of national talent. I’m sorry to be so frank. But Diresta could have (and would have) done more if he hadn’t been complaining and boeasting off 99% of the time.

        1. @omarr-pepper I don’t mind that at all, I think his team might not like to hear such public displays of honesty but I do, even if sometimes it was clear that Di Resta himself should have been held acquaintable for some of his mistakes but bottom-line, Di Resta beat Vettel in junior categories even though he was less experienced than Vettel.

      2. @omarr-pepper I don’t think it’s a good comparison because Coulthard made his F1 debut with Williams and after that spent many seasons at McLaren, two top teams in that time. Force India has never been anything else than a midfield team, we don’t know what Di Resta would have achieved with Red Bull or Ferrari.

        As for “complaining and boasting”, I’ve actually noticed that, for instance, Hulkenberg swears and complains about his car on team radio much more than Di Resta does, while Sutil would never stand a chance to land an F1 seat if teams really cared that much about the drivers’ “attitude”.

        1. @girts I think people notice it because from the midfield there’s a preference to ask the British drivers. I’ve heard so many times this year that for example Button is turning out to be a whiny old women, but I think both this and saying di Resta is always moaning is BS.

          1. Lulus spent a fair amount of time moaning this season too

        2. I admire your resolute support of di Resta, but he has be heard shouting down the radio. His attitude of blaming the team if anything bad happens and taking the credit when he does something good like he’s points-scoring against the team will be missed like a hole in the head. I reckon his poor attitude has helped in his receiving of the boot from Force India. Hulkenberg has got a seat but he doesn’t bring sponsorship. Perez got picked for the McLaren seat on talent also (only one Mexican sponsor went to them), the one di Resta was hoping to get. I’m just wondering, apart from that incident, how is Sutil’s attitude so bad that he wouldn’t have an F1 seat based on it?

          1. @deej92 This is what Sutil said on the radio during the Korean Grand Prix:

            The car’s ******* slow. I can’t go faster. It’s a piece of ****.

            I don’t think Di Resta has ever gone that far.

            Moreover, Sutil recently called his car “a carrot” and said he was happy to get rid of it even though Di Resta had constantly managed to get better results with the same car.

            I have nothing against Sutil but I don’t believe that di Resta’s attitude is so much worse than the other drivers’ attitude that the team is ready to refuse of many points and possibly millions of prize money because of that. If FI drops him to take Perez instead, it will be purely a financial decision, particularly as Perez’s “attitude” also isn’t exactly exemplary, as said by several sources.

          2. @girts Thank you for enlightening me because I genuinely didn’t know about that. So neither of Force India’s drivers this year had exemplar attitudes.

            Perez’s attitude has had its critics but it has also been praised my McLaren. The way he wished the team all the best in the future on the radio in the last race tells me that he at least respects the team. For me, di Resta came across as though he thought the Force India team was a hindrance to him and that he was bigger than the team. It might not have been like that in reality, but it sometimes seemed like that.

    2. As a Scot, I’m not ruing his loss as an F1 personality – in that regard he’s dire. However would I lose him over Sutil? No.

      Considering that aspect, I would have a feeling of slight disappointment.

  3. No mention to the last Mark Webber caption contest… when is that coming :)? I wanna see if I won :P

  4. Fernando Alonso ✔ @alo_oficial – Listen. Be wise, the beginning of wisdom is the silence. #Samurai

    Wonder if Mr. Alonso might be sending that out in the direction of anyone in particular? ;-)

    1. Jack (@jackisthestig)
      5th December 2013, 1:45

      Be quiet then Fernando!

    2. F1 level gossip. oOooohhhh, Don’t tell the daily mail or we’ll never hear the end of it.

      1. Also, because I’m not from the UK. I quickly goggled “daily mail” and went onto their site to ensure I was making the joke I think I was.

        HOLY CRAP. Never again.

    3. Looks like Alonso is heeding (and simultaneously not heeding) Monty’s twitter ban.

    4. In the streets they say “silence is better than *******”

      1. My personal favorite is “never miss the opportunity to shut the **** up”

  5. On this day 1 year ago the FIA made another mistake .

    Yesterday as I scanned through the pics of Webbers career one thing became very obvious, in the early years of this century the front wings were; (a) smaller, (b) simpler, (c) higher of the ground, the obvious conclusion is that the front wing has become more and more crucial to the overall performance of the car, which as we know hugely handicaps a driver following in the turbulent air of a car ahead and so we have DRS and comedy tyres in order to fake overtaking ability.

    Grow a pair FIA, reduce the downforce by reducing the wings, we will likely not only get better racing with real overtaking but less drag which will improve fuel economy and hopefully eliminate the need for going slow to conserve fuel

    1. Nah, on the contrary, I think a large part of the reason that cars are nowadays able to follow each other more closely is down to the fact that the front wing is able to produce more downforce overall, and proportionally a bit more in dirty air as well. This whole ‘can’t follow the car ahead’ issue got big around the time the front wing size was reduced and the wing was lifted. It was present earlier, but not as much as from around 2001.

      1. @atticus-2, well I’m no aerodynamicist so I can’t argue definitively but what I can say as a sailor is that no matter the size of the sail or foil, once turbulence disrupts the laminar flow and causes a detached air ( any fluid ) flow over the foil it loses all usefulness.

        1. on reflection, yes the height may be relevant as a really ground scraping wing may still retain some downforce from the Bernoulli effect but as there is already a low pressure area directly behind an F1 car it’s going to be minimal.

    2. On front wings, The front wings were raised in 2001 to cut downforce, They were raised further still for 2005 to do the same thing.
      This had 2 downsides, It firstly put the front wings more into the turbulent air & secondly gave the cars a tenancy to understeer which was made worse in the turbulent air.

      The reason they were lowered in 2009 back to the pre-2001 height was to get the front wing away from the majority of the turbulent air & get it to generate more front grip to reduce the effect of the turbulent air that was affecting it.

      The idea was that if you raise/narrow the rear wing it would move the turbulent airflow higher & narrow it, The Lower/Wider front wing was to ensure it caught as little of the turbulent air off the rear wing of a car ahead as possible.
      That theory did actually work, Early in 2009 cars were able to follow one another closer, However the double diffusers & later blown diffusers generated more turbulent air lower down which was been blown pretty much directly onto the front wings again.

      The changes for 2014 to the exhaust position & the changes to the rear wing angle is again been done to try & direct the turbulent air away from the front wings.
      I gather the narrowing of the front wing for 2014 is simply been done in conjunction to the rear downforce loss to maintain the overall aero balance.

      1. @gt-racer, thanks for that explanation, I hope it works, and I hope Pirelli will supply a tyre with good grip through a broad heat-range with good durability so the cars can race closer longer.

      2. @gt-racer Yep, thank you for the elaboration.

      3. @gt-racer in that perspective does any team have already ‘crafted’ bad turbulences for cars behind? Would it be illegal?

        1. @spoutnik Yes it has been done before and no it isn’t illegal.

    3. @hohum – The FIA won’t be able to reduce the reliance on aerodynamic grip without the approval of the teams. And since the teams know that they can go faster with more aerodynamic grip, they will never agree to those kind of cuts (and even if they do, they will find a way to get the grip back within a year).

      1. @prisoner-monkeys, I would be happy for them to get the grip back just as long as it wasn’t dependent on “clean” air, we got the engines nobody wanted so smaller wings should be possible.

    4. @hohum The front wings have indeed become more and more important in the last couple of years, but not necessarily because they produce more downforce.

      With the removal of all the winglets and extra bodywork in 2009, the teams had to use more and more the front wing to condition the airflow around the car (which makes them more sensitive) and the problem is that engineers can’t unlearn what they’ve done all this years, so the wings are not going to get any simpler I’m afraid.

      1. @mantresx, yes I know the front wing sets up the airflow all along the car and contributes to rear grip as well as front grip making the cars,as you say, so sensitive to “dirty” air, which is why I say they have to be made significantly smaller to even “the playing field” between the leading and following car, it’s not a matter of un-learning but a matter of removing the possibility.

    5. Aero grip is only a small part of the problem, tyres are far more important.

      Back in the day the tyres were either sticky qualy tyres or brick hard compounds. The difference between a driver braking on the racing line and on a more dusty part of the track was not especially big. Nowadays it’s enormous, hence the need for DRS to make sure they’re clear enough for moving back towards the line in the braking zone.

      Want more overtaking? Make the tyres like bricks and make the front wings deeper and longer with a maximum of one element per side. Restricting the depth has made them far more sensitive.

      Of course we can’t forget that a great deal of old school passes were made when drivers changed gear faster/better than their competitor!

  6. My notes:

    – Anthony Hamilton seems to have problems delivering in his managerial positions – first, his son ditched him, now he could fail to get di Resta into a team.
    – Ouch, that RB10 nose looks ugly. No wonder that rumours emerged on the cars retaining a lot of speed if the lower nose concept fails to have an effect.
    – Wow, I actually thought we’ll see electric-only cars in pit lane in 2014. I got lost among the quadzillion rule changes.

  7. Michael Brown (@)
    5th December 2013, 1:03

    I don’t like Di Resta’s attitude but I think he’s still good enough for F1. I would rather him to get the Sauber seat than Sutil (although that seems to be pretty much sealed).

  8. So Di Resta in Force India finishes just 1pt behind Perez in McLaren, and still we are most likely to get Perez pushing Di Resta out of Force India and most likely F1. How this Perez guy seems to be riding his luck is beyond ridiculous. Last year, he got McLaren drive based on a few lottery podiums, while his teammate who won just 6 points less than Perez (66pts) was left without a drive. This year, in a McLaren which was not the front runner, but still much better than Force India for most of the season, he finished just 1 point ahead of the guy whom he is replacing now and pushing out of F1.
    And on top of it all, he’s one of the most obnoxious drivers when it comes to actual racing. Pushing people like it’s some low-class, no-sportsmanship series.

    I’m no Di Resta fan in any way and actually never cared for him at all, but I can’t wait to see Perez out of F1.

    1. A comment that makes sense, thanks :)

      1. A ‘non’ sense comment to be honest. I really doubt that Perez is the one who decide which driver should a team keep or not. Its the teams decision who they want to race for them. Some look for money, some dont. Even if Perez has backing and Di Resta or Kamui doesnt, its still the teams decision who they want. They have the data on who is more talented. So if Sauber wanted to drop Kamui and Force India wants to drop Paul, why is it Perez’s fault. The comment from “obviosuly” is more of frustration than sense!

  9. They should change the name of that from the “Red Bull RB10” to the “Red Bull RB-Oh-my-******-god”….

  10. Don’t worry Scarbs ain’t no Newey.

    1. You still think next year’s cars won’t look like that?
      If you read the rules it makes perfect sense to have a nose like that and Newey himself has said that the cars will be ugly so it’s very likely we’ll see this solution next year :(

    2. he still knows a thing or two :)

  11. In regards of Di Resta. I used to think harshly about him, but I was debating about how “deserving” his seat is. There is no such a think as deserving in this climate, obviously, One has to play the cards given and make the best out of it, but there are factors outside of him that play a role in his performance. It is sad nonetheless that even if he gave his best, it wasn’t enough.

  12. I won’t miss Di Resta. He was a solid driver but ever since he joined F1 he stagnated. And looking back I remember more instances of him trashing his team than stand-out performances.

  13. “Mr Di Resta disputes the claim and said in a witness statement that as manager Mr Hamilton “was not taking a professional approach to seeking sponsorship for me”. He added: “He wholly failed to deliver.””
    He is Di Resta at it again. Excuses, excuses, in fact the final statement actually sums up Di Resta himself ironically. I for one will be very glad not having to listen to this whining, average driver again in formula 1. Bye-bye, baby, bye-bye….

    1. Although it is interesting that one of the reasons given on this site for Di Restas lack of marketability is his lack of of a big cash sponsor. He and his management have missed a trick somewhere.

      1. Strange how Hammy senior didn’t take junior to court for loss of earnings after being sacked

  14. I don’t think Vettel actually needs defence. His achievements talk for themselves, he’s the youngest four-time world champion, there is not really much to add. Yes, he has had a great car and Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton have never been his team mates but Schumacher also never had to fight Hakkinen or Montoya in the same car and Fangio usually had the best equipment at his disposal, too. Yet they are both treated as F1 legends and Vettel is going to be treated as a legend too, even if some don’t appreciate his achievements now.

    In 30 years from now, no one will care about Webber’s age, exhaust-blown diffusers and Pirelli tyres, people will just see Vettel’s name in the history books. In my opinion, drivers such as Nico Rosberg and Giedo van der Garde are the ones, who need to be defended as their achievements are not as obvious.

    1. @girts Exactly. No one remembers that Peter Collins would have been champion in 1956 if he hadn’t been so modest, and that Surtees won the championship in 1964 because his teammate torpedoed Hill out of contention at the last race. The name in the history books is what counts. To most, at least.

      1. @andae23 That’s true. For sure, there will always be freaks (like us :)), who try to dig deeper to understand what Jim Clark or John Surtees were really like and in what circumstances they won their titles. But those freaks are in the minority and they are also not the ones, who post “MY GRANDMA COULD WIN IN THAT RED BULL LOL”.

    2. I completey disagree. Maybe some ignorant people will look back in 30 years and not take what we know now into account. In fact in that time we will probably be more educated as to why the FIA were so lenient with Red Bull. Also Schumi is a legend for all the wrong reasons which people will still recognise in 30 years which we know more about now.

      1. I’d agree that titles alone are not the sole arbiter of a driver as a legend, since there are other drivers who have made their mark on the sport and been remembered long after other more officially successful drivers have been forgotten.
        Nelson Piquet, for example, managed to win the title three times in his career – a feat that is matched by Brabham, Stewart, Senna and Lauda, and yet I would wager that Piquet is held in lower regard than those drivers (and often in lower regard than other drivers with fewer titles to their names too).

        Equally, there are other drivers remembered with great affection despite a lack of titles – Gilles Villeneuve, for example, is still fondly remembered and held up as a more talented driver than even many championship winning drivers, whilst Stirling Moss seems to have become more of a legend because he ceded the title to Hawthorn in the spirit of fair competition rather than being diminished by the lack of a title.

        Although I would personally prefer some sort of metric against which the drivers could be judged, numbers alone are not the sole arbiter in an emotive context like this.

  15. I would have thought that Anthony Hamilton’s singular lack of qualifications to be a driver manager would have more to do with his lack of success than anything di Resta said or did.

  16. That article in Sport Bild says that the fuel limit per GP next year is 135 litres.
    “Pro Grand Prix dürfen nur noch 135 Liter Benzin verbrannt werden.”
    I thought it was 100 litres, or is the 135 litres to include Qualifying as well, or have I just got it all wrong?

    1. @TimothyKatz I think the limit is 100 kg, which is probably equal to 135 litres, given the density of fuel.

      1. @girts Of course! Thanks.

  17. Di Resta gets a lot of abuse on the forums, but i for one will be a bit sad to see him booted from F1. Ok, i can’t defend his attitude towards his team, and often find myself cringing at his comments to the press. But his on track behaviour, where it actually counts, was very good and barring a few uncharacteristic incidents in the latter half of this season he was one of the cleanest racers out there.

    I rate him around 10th best out of the current drivers, although maybe some of the rookies have more potential in the long run, so it doesn’t seem right that he loses his spot while others who have shown little talent remain, or worse, are moving to stronger teams. His problem is that most of the drivers he is competing with for seats bring financial backing, the notable exception being Hulkenberg who has admittedly shown more potential.

    Nonetheless, if he is on his way out i hope he gets a seat in Indycar or wherever he chooses to go and can still have a strong career. Best of luck Paul from a fellow Scot.

  18. With regards to Di Resta, I’ll be gla if he looses the seat. He’s a decent driver but nothing special. Plus, I’ve met him a few times and I think it’s fair to say he’s not one of the nicest I’ve met.

    I’ve a question, why was Nico Prost driving the 2013 car in the simulator? Surely that’s a bit of a pointless execise now?

    1. Last point, I thought so to at first, my guess is it is something to do with setting up a benchmark performance to compare with the new car.

  19. Werent there recent reports that Tom McCullough would be moving Force India for 2014?

    1. *to Force India

    2. Yes. He’s probably under contract until the end of the year or until they finish a season debrief…

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