Di Resta: People know I can succeed in F1

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Paul di Resta, who lost his F1 seat at the end of last season, believes he has convinced people he can succeed at the top level.

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No shortcuts for Di Resta on the path back to F1 (The Herald)

“I am confident people have seen that I have the qualities to succeed in F1 but, of course, things keep changing in the sport, whether it’s the rules or the driver line-ups and, unfortunately, the situation arose where there wasn’t a place for me.”

Back to Work (Lotus)

“We have made some progress in reducing the deficiency from losing the interconnected suspension but we are still hurting a little bit. We have some revised mechanical parts for Spa including some new springs and enhanced suspension settings which should help.”

The Ecclestone trial unravelled (Autosport, subscription required)

“‘Too low’ said the prosecution, desperate for a headline number to salvage a modicum of pride, of the £18m offer. They sensed that Ecclestone could be open to a deal, for in the event of conviction CVC would surely carry out its threat.”

‘Why shouldn’t I inherit daddy’s billions?’ (Daily Mail)

“In [Tamara Ecclestone’s] opinion the money her father [Bernie] made should definitely be passed to her – just as the money she’s making from her own business ventures will be passed on to her children.”

Comment of the day

Paddy Lowe has said people wouldn’t have expected teams to impose orders on their drivers so readily before Michael Schumacher’s time at Ferrari. @Robbie agrees:

I find it depressing that people expected Mercedes to use team orders in that way. Just as with the Schumacher-Ferrari era, and especially when the car is dominant, the only thing it does is make the ‘rooster’ and the team’s life easier, while the rest of the world is robbed of a real rivalry, real racing, in the pinnacle of racing.

I praise Mercedes to no end for their behaviour this year. While they have shown it is not easy, that is the point…even though it is not easy they are doing it. For us. And for themselves. They are racers racing in the pinnacle of racing.
@Robbie

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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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49 comments on “Di Resta: People know I can succeed in F1”

  1. I feel bad for Paul but at the end of the day, it was the tyre change after the 2013 Silverstone calamity that put him without a seat for this season.

  2. Hey, Paul, my parents also believe I have a future in the pinnacle of racing.

    1. Well if your parent are loaded you probably have a serious chance.

    2. Maarten van Berge Henegouwen (@)
      17th August 2014, 9:18

      Hello Max, welcome to the forum!

      1. best :D

  3. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    17th August 2014, 0:11

    Paul is a good driver (definitely). I say this before anyone tells me “Paul drives better than you”.
    But during his time in F1, he never really outshone his teammate in a very clear way. And let’s remember Sutil, his last teammate, is not exactly a really bright example.
    I guess that if Paul comes back, he will have to conform himself with a backmarker (as Kobayashi) and coming from a backmarker team to step up again looks not so possible.
    And don’t forget the pool of young talent that is deserving a shot as soon as possible, more than DiResta, who had his fair share of years to prove what he said (and keeps saying) he could do in F1.

    1. And let’s remember Sutil, his last teammate, is not exactly a really bright example.

      I don’t understand why Sutil is still in F1 and Di Resta isn’t. Always had a sweet spot for him.

        1. Although as I understand from several media sources who are in the paddock, DiRestas attetude was also a problem for him. Working with others, including Sutil was just so much more pleasant.

        2. Let me add that its not his media appearance that hurt him most, as is said in the interview, nor not having money (Hulk has even less!), but his approach to feedback etc inside the team

    2. Agree completely. Paul never showed enough promise in his time in the sport. He wasn’t poor, but he wasn’t particularly good either.

      His attitude towards the team, and constant ranting about how he deserves a top drive, ticked both his employers and a lot of fans off.

      Even after leaving the sport for a year he seems to wallow in self pity instead of coming to terms with the fact that he had his shot, and he failed to really make an impact.

  4. Argh, Keith why did you lower yourself to linking the daily mail?? Don’t give that smut company ad revenue from page views, although they can sometimes be very funny in all their ridiculousness.

    1. While I am inclined to agree. The only thing worse than bad media is censorship. As Ian Hislop once said: “You don’t ban it. You do not ban it! You don’t BUY it!”. Just don’t click the link.

  5. +1 with @omarr-pepper

    The only shot Pauly has is with enourmous backing ,

    And then it will be in a car akin to a shopping trolley where potential is not measured in lap speed but speed in which the bills can be paid

  6. Succeed in what? being absolute average?

    Excuse me, Paul, but you’re so average that you even tie with Adrian Sutil in being average. And while, yeah, Sutil is still in F1, he doesn’t deserve it. Just like you.

    The F1 grid this year is a very strong one appart from a couple of examples (Sutil, Gutierrez, Chilton). Of course there’s no room for you…

    1. But he beat vettel in f3 if you didn’t know already. He likes to bring it up at every interview!

  7. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    17th August 2014, 0:39

    I wonder how Di Resta would fair in F1 today with the regulations as they are. Would his driving style suit these new cars I wonder?

    We’ve seen Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen struggle mightily with them so far, and they’re the top drivers. While Ricciardo, Bottas, Kvyat and Alonso have thrived in them.
    I see no reason why Di Resta couldn’t as well.

    Whilst I find him terribly boring, and he’s apparently as marketable as a wet mop, I’m not opposed to him being in F1 based on talent, which is what it should be about.

    1. Well to be fair to Vettle and Raikkonen, Alonso always excels

    2. @tophercheese21 – Good, fair points. I think he was left out in the cold after drivers with more talent, more potential or more money to buy a seat already had places. Talent wise he is better than at least several drivers with seats. The fortunes and fates of F1 are certainly not always fair.

    3. I’ve always found Vettel and Raikkonen to be slightly overrated. Just slightly. Don’t get me wrong, they are very good drivers, but put them in a car which isn’t suited to their driving style, and this happens. This is where Alonso and Hamilton excel. Their ability to adapt to any car they have and secure good results. This is just personal opinion though.

      1. @ultimateuzair
        Put Hamilton in a good car and he’ll find some way to screw up though. Raikkonen and Vettel are good at getting the maximum out of their car when it’s to their liking. Alonso can do both, which is why he’s the best.

        1. @george Raikkonen screwed up in 2008 when he had a chance to become a double world champion in an equally good car to 2007. Vettel screwed up in 2009 when he had a chance to take his first championship in a better car for the second half of the season. Alonso screwed up in 2007 when he was a title contender to the last race. Couldn’t even beat Hamilton. Hamilton screwed up in 2010 when he was leading at one point. Everyone screws up, even the best drivers. Hamilton ‘screwing up’ this year is mostly because of his bad luck with reliability. Rosberg is the luckiest man alive.

          1. I think the only points where Hamilton was “screwing up” this year were his mistakes made in qualifying 2 times. That is not about reliability.

            But I agree with your general argument, that every driver makes mistakes that prove costly during their careers.

    4. I agree. He isn’t the best personality but he is a good driver.

      He was quick, and yes, last season had many stupid mistakes, but it happens like that sometimes. He is better than at the very least 5 drivers in the current field, and in all honesty people never really rated Perez that highly until now, so it could have been the same for di Resta. I’d say di Resta was better than Perez really. He wasn’t far off Hulkenberg two years ago, and Hulkenberg is considered as one of the best at the moment.

  8. Considering Silly Season and Money Talks, there might be a supposition for Honda&McLaren to buy Alonso Contract, Ferrari would get Vettel so, with Total & Renault support, Grosjean would drive for RedBull. In this exceptional scenary once LOTUS will be powered by Mercedes then might be a great chance for Paul Di Resta get a drive at LOTUS F1 Team in 2015. Again, only thoughts and nothing yet crystal clear…..

    1. I don’t know what mushrooms you’re eating but I like them! That would be an awesome scenario for sure!

    2. Your supposition about McLaren/Honda buying Alonso’s Ferrari contract misses the fundamental part about FA wanting to go there for which I can see no earthly reason why he would!

  9. I never did get why Di Resta gets so much hate from fans?

    Its not as if his time in F1 was a flop, He had some very strong drives & a very good amount of very strong results & was for the most part competitive against his team mates.
    If we look at last season, He was consistently up towards & was in contention for a podium at Bahrain the front up untill the Mid-season tyre change which at Force India’s admission hurt them more than most.

    Its the same with Maldonado, He’s only had 1 year with a inconsistently competitive car & in that year he scored a pole, won a race & had other very strong drives which had the possibility of podiums.
    Put him in a consistently competitive car & I’ve no doubt he’d score more poles/wins/podiums.

    1. Something else with Maldonado is that he won the GP2 championship by beating Sergio Perez & Jules Bianchi, Guess they have no business in F1 either?

      And Di Resta beat Sebastien Vettel to the championship when they were team mates in F3 (And both in there 2nd season in F3), Guess Seb should be given the boot?

      Di Resta has won in everything he’s raced in apart from F1, He’s won prestigious races/chmapionships & been competitive in every category he has raced in.

      Just don’t get why people don’t seem to think he should be in F1 & there were many discrediting him before he’d even stepped into the Force India in 2012?

      If he had come in to F1 & just looked slow & uncompetitive, I’d get it but the fact is he didn’t.

      1. i completely agree, however i think F1 is about more than just driving ability. you need to be marketable and likeable unless you are ridiculously talented. di resta showed he was a solid driver but had the personality of a wet mop so he wasn’t likeable enough to keep (plus he doesn’t have the money of say, maldonardo). the way fans bond with certain drivers is a big drawing card for teams IMO, look at Kimi’s fan base (pretty sure thats why lotus hired him, popular and fast). lets look at red bull for example, vettel is not very popular (i am still not sure why as interviews outside of f1 has proven that he is very funny and easy going) but is very talented so he is a keeper and dani ric has shown he is fast yet extremely marketable, especially looking from a red bull promotional standpoint. i remember some commentators saying that his canada win was one that no one in the pit lane would be unhappy about. red bull are gong to use his image for everything so they have scored a massive win (likeable and fast). if di resta was in the red bull they wouldn’t be able to do that.

      2. also i forgot to add that the above criteria doesn’t apply if you have lots of money. looking at you ericsson, chilton and maldonardo

        1. And Bernie
          @ aaron

      3. it doesn’t matter that Di resta was better than Vettel in F3, Laurens Vanthoor was better then Bottas in F3 but now Bottas drives in F1 & Vanthoor in Blancpain gt, it doesn’t matter what you do 5 years ago it matters what you do now.

    2. He seemed entirely ready to throw his team under the bus at every opportunity if things didn’t go his way, and didn’t ever want to take any responsibility for his own mistakes.

      1. So a bit like Button?

        1. Di Resta was the polar opposite of Button in terms of his relationship with his team. Jense is agreeable, smiley, social, while Paul was dour. JB is loyal. He’s had his moments on the radio like all of them but nothing disloyal like PdR’s “It’s not good enough!” that the team must have found seriously alienating.

    3. He lacked charisma and he had no other aspect of personality or driving skill to make up for that. You can quibble about that, however, it is not as if his personality developed over time. The more you got to know the guy the more you realised there weren’t that many dimensions to him. In a word: boring. Boring would be fine if he had amazing talent but he did not stand head and shoulders above his peers as far as inate ability is concerned.

    4. Because it’s always ‘someone else’s fault’, that’s why.

  10. Completely unrelated to any of the articles, but I just noticed the similarities between the Hungarian GP results and Keith’s mid-season drivers rankings.

    In both cases Ricciardo was 1st, Alonso 2nd, Hamilton 3rd, Rosberg 4th, Vettel 7th, and Ericsson dead last.

    1. @kingshark You’ve rumbled me :-)

  11. Paul di Resta doesn’t seem like a bad chap really. He must have some modicum of talent to have at least reached Formula 1 at all. Somehow though he comes across as a bit self centered, still. If you read only his quotes in that article and add up all the “I”s, “my”s and “me”s, it is staggering. Self confidence is needed to compete at this level, but self absorption does not always equal mass appeal or a driver’s seat in F1. Maybe he needs to think outside the I.

    I am bull mello. I  am not so confident people have seen that I have the qualities to succeed in F1…

  12. We have seen your qualities Paul. And for that reason you should be quiet while you are still in DTM

  13. You know it’s mid season break when we are talking about Paul Di Resta

  14. @keithcollantine Thanks for the COTD mention.

  15. Di Resta was far from useless on the track, but I think it was more his attitude that put a lot of teams off him, especially in his final season.

    In terms of driving ability, I certainly rate him better than the two Sauber drivers at least as a complete package, I would also rate him as less crash happy and more consistent than Sergio Perez. And if he had the many millions that Pastor Maldonado has, I am pretty sure that Lotus would have had the Scot as oppose to the Venezuelan. I wouldn’t put him on the Grosjean/Hulkenberg level, but he probably would be a better asset when it comes to delivering consistent points-scoring results to a midfield team than some drivers currently on the 2014 Formula One grid.

  16. In F1, it’s not all about driving ability, or the money a driver brings. It’s also about teams trying to find the next star-driver to keep motivation high, and media interested. Di Resta had his chance. He wasn’t interesting enough. There are 10 more drivers with great potential waiting in line for a seat.

  17. If you’re doubting Di Resta’s chances to get back into F1 (and I don’t even like the guy that much) just remember that this time a year ago, nobody had Kamui Kobayashi going to Caterham, Antonio Felix da Costa was a cinch padlock lock for STR, and Kimi Raikkonen SURELY wouldn’t be going back to Ferrari after how the 2007-09 stint ended.

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