Di Resta sent to back of grid as car fails weight check

2013 British Grand Prix

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Paul di Resta has been excluded from the results of qualifying after stewards found his car was under the minimum weight limit.

Di Resta had qualified fifth for Sunday’s race. But his car failed a weight check conducted after the qualifying session.

The stewards ruled Force India had committed a “Breach of Article 26.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations as defined in Article 1.9 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.”

Technical delegate Jo Bauer explained how Di Resta’s car was found to be underweight:

“After the third qualifying session car number 14, driver Paul Di Resta, was weighed 641.5 kg, 0.5 kg under the minimum weight as required by Article 4.1 of the 2013 Formula One Technical Regulations.

“After this the car was completely drained in order to establish that the minimum weight of the car without fuel, 642 kg, was respected at all times during the qualifying practice sessions. Then the car was weighed again without any fuel on board and weighed only 640.0 kg, 2.0 kg below of the minimum weight.

“The scales were checked with the calibrated weights supplied by the organizer of the Event and they showed 599.5 kg when checking with 600.0 kg of weights. Taken this 0.5 kg into account, car 14 is still 1.5 kg below the minimum weight as required by Article 4.1 of the 2013 Formula One Technical Regulations.”

Di Resta will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid.

Jules Bianchi was given a reprimand after failing to stop at the weigh bridge during the qualifying session.

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Image © Force India

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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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81 comments on “Di Resta sent to back of grid as car fails weight check”

  1. Poor guy. After the team making mistakes two times in a row, it happens now again. :/

    1. After just 8 rounds Force India have made 4 (!!) disastrous mistakes with di Resta’s qualifying.

      Malaysia: out in Q1 because team called him in to pits just before rain started.
      Monaco: out in Q1 because team told him to stay out on old intermediates.
      Canada: out in Q1 because team kept him in pits when track was at driest.
      U.K.: sent to back of grid because the team under weighted the car.

      He’s still doing a fantastic job – scored in every race he’s finished – but it’s so bitterly disappointing that with the great potential in the car they’re not able to hook it all up.

      1. On the same point, in his last two seasons I can only remember di Resta suffering this kind of error once: Spa 2011 (out in Q1 because team told him to back off, thinking he was safe, only to be pipped by Kovalainen at the last second).

        So in his first 39 races di Resta he suffered from operational errors 2% of the time.

        This season, when the car has the best chance of scoring points, that figure has risen to 50%! These things seem to happen just when you don’t want them.

        1. These things also happen when you step out of your comfort zone in order to make a car go fast

      2. You missed Australia where FI didn’t let him past Sutil.

      3. Hm, from one of the articles I remember reading a line that hinted at the reason for the lack of weight possibly being a weight loss of the driver that was unexpected

        1. I’d say losing 1.5kg during the qualifying session would have to be pretty unexpected.

  2. Oh my god

  3. Tough stuff, especially at his home race. The multiple interviews by Sky and BBC with di Resta tomorrow should be interesting at least!

    1. That’s going to be the worst part. Hours of droning and complaining from the man with the personality of a wet sock.

      He’s got every right to complain, mind you. I just don’t want to listen to it!

      1. the man with the personality of a wet sock

        While I’m starting to like and respect Di Resta for his performances on track after a long period of considering him the next Nick Heidfeld, that is by far the most apt description I’ve read of the man as we see him in interviews! Haha well done!

      2. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        30th June 2013, 2:34

        AllofmyYES!

        Don’t get me wrong, Di Resta is a high quality driver and no doubt a good guy, but dam! I practically fall asleep whenever he is being interviewed.

    2. What Di Resta should do is get quiet and drive harder.

      Everybody is expecting him to hammer his team and whing about too many spanners in the works. That is when a high calibre driver doesn’t say a word, just puts his head down and pushes to the max. Not saying anything more in this case than that’s the way it goes, we’ll do the best we can and then doing it will scar him for life. Everybody knows he’s been compromised by his team, rise above it and drive like a man possessed! Use a 2 stop strategy and get into the points. That is what an upcoming driver looking to move up does. I would love to see him do it.

      Can he do it? Yes.

      Will he do it?

      1. I hope he does. Would be nice to hear an interview:

        Pinkham: Well Paul, what happened?
        PDR: The car was underweigth, we don’t know exactly why, but its a big shame after a great qualifying (Mind NO words about the team messing up)
        Pinkham: What do you make of all these issues?
        PDR: Oh, well, we can’t change it now. I am going to start from the pitlane, my guys will do a cracking job to prepare that car and I will just go for it in the race.

        1. @bascb Not bad at all..I guess he realises that talent alone isn’t enough to get a top drive..attitude is important too.

  4. That’s a shame. Feel sorry for him. After putting in all those efforts, achieving P5 and then startling from the back of the grid. Not the best thing to happen !!!

  5. Alonso’s comeback has already began

    1. lol. everytime alonso qualifies low down the grid he gets promoted a place or two before the race.

  6. I’m not sure if he’s going to be mad at his team, or if he’s just given up on them by now…

    1. With a total of 4 races at least partially hampered by the team (including Malaysia), I have a feeling Di Resta might want out, even if it’s another side move, akin to Hulkenberg.

      1. Really??? No matter where di Resta will have to start, he almost certanly will finish higher than Nico Hulkenberg. Of course it must be frustrating, but it could’ve been worse. Much worse.

  7. When was the last time a car failed a weight check?

    1. Jake Moon (@andwhatisdeletrazdoing)
      29th June 2013, 21:15

      If memory serves me correct, it would be Hungary 2006, when Robert Kubica was disqualified from 7th for being 2 kilos underweight in his first start.

      1. I thought it was quite a while ago as I couldn’t recall this happening.

  8. Gutted, can force India do anything right when it concerns Paul

  9. I’ve often made jokes about Paul di Resta looking miserable all the time, but the man has every right to be completely filthy with Force India about this.

    The third Saturday in a row when his qualifying has been ruined because of a misjudgement by the team. Absolutely unacceptable.

    1. It is pretty unlucky. Given last year he also put in a great performance and then was hampered in the race by misfortune you do have to feel for the guy!

      1. In 2011 (his rookie season) di Resta qualified a superb 6th at Silverstone, so he obviously goes well there.

        Also, read a few people saying that 5th would have been di Resta’s career-best qualifying performance. That’s not actually right. He qualified 4th in Monza 2012 (although, he was also demoted that day – a gearbox grid penalty)!

        1. You couldn’t argue that he has luck on his side.

  10. He did wonder why his car was so quick…

  11. Although this report says

    Di Resta will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid.

    the BBC article says he may have to start from the pit lane because adding ballast would constitute a setup change.

    Whatever happens, it’s going to be interesting to watch his progress tomorrow!

    1. They can also just add another kilo and a half of fuel.

      1. Yep, or he could wear some heavier overalls, go to McDonalds for dinner tonight, make sure he drinks a lot of water before the race.
        I was just putting the possibility out there really…

      2. @repete86 The car has to weigh 642kg with the driver but without the fuel. So adding more fuel is pointless.

        1. Good point. Sounds like he’s going to have to start eating…

  12. Disastrous. Gross negligence on Force India’s part. After out qualifying his teammate and being best of the non-RBR, non-Merc drivers and having a fairly racy car, he must have been in for a shout of some good points at his home race yet bad fortune strikes again. Quite sad, but there is nothing that Paul can do about it.

  13. I bet Di Resta would take a serious pay cut to drive for RB at this point.

    1. I bet Di Resta would make a serious payment to drive for RB at this point.

    2. Relatively speaking, he isn’t on a big salary as it is…

      1. @jamesf1 Out of interest, what do you guess his salary currently is?

        1. JimmyTheIllustratedBlindSolidSilverBeachStackapopolis III
          30th June 2013, 2:39

          200-300k at a guess.

        2. @mhop I really don’t know, but I do remember reading somewhere it isn’t massive. No more than £900,000 – which is a lot to you and I, but not a lot compared to some of the other guys on the grid.

    3. Save for a couple of drivers, I bet most would agree to a salary of $0 to drive for Red Bull. And many would pay Red Bull to drive for them.

    4. Where has all of this “di Resta to Red Bull” nonsense come from?

      Given his lacklustre performances, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was coming from di Resta himself. I’m pretty sure he – or at least his people – was the source of the rumoured McLaren move last year.

    5. Traverse (@)
      29th June 2013, 23:29

      @ferrox-glideh & @JALKMFA
      I bet di Resta is drinking a Red Bull and Vodka right now to ease the pain.

      1. Traverse (@)
        29th June 2013, 23:30

        *Jalkmfe

  14. I like Force India a lot as a team, but this is the third weekend in a row that they’ve messed up Paul’s qualifying. I feel so sorry for him, he did a fantastic job today :(

    1. I’ve heard it was Paul that was actually underweight, rather than the car.

        1. He may have weighed less this week, but the team should have known that. It’s still their fault.

          1. How can a man of Italian heritage possibly lose weight when he goes home? His Nonna should be ashamed.

  15. That’s horrible. He was perfectly set up for a fight with tire eating Mercs. Now we get to watch him scramble his way back up the field because of his team, which is entertaining, but not what he deserves at this point.

    1. exactly I was excited for the midfield battle..bummer..not really midfield, upper mid field shall I say…

  16. But if he can comeback and get a top 5 it would certainly raise his profile! Hope he does well tmrw.

  17. 48 laps on the first set of tyres and he’s sorted…he’s used to that strategy now!
    Bummer for Paul – I was looking forward to seeing what pace he could run at – but it happens from time to time, and it’s not as bad as the guys disqualified from 3rd place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

    Good news for Ricciardo – could even get a hint of a smile out of him now…

    1. Riccardo might just be good for red bull , He is similar to vettel , quick , a good qualifier with Loads of luck :-)

  18. Really bad luck for Di Resta, what a shame. I put him to finish 4th on my prediction, hope he can at least finish top ten

  19. This is exactly why midfield teams, even if they have a faster car, are not able to beat the top teams, whether is driver or operational errors they very rarely get the most points available in a race, what a shame.

    1. I thought McLaren was considered one of the top teams

      1. Sorry I meant over a whole season, if Force India maximizes every race then they would beat Mclaren easily, but that’s not going to happen I think they will only get 6th place in the end.

  20. hang on why was it underweight? not enough ballast? fuel?

    1. because it wasn’t heavy enough.

  21. There goes my predictions :(

  22. Out of interest, could anybody give me a rough estimation as to how much time DIR would’ve gained with that 1.5kg missing?

    1. The effect would have been almost negligible. However, the stewards are bound by the rules – they cannot say “well, you didn’t really get an advantage, so it’s okay this one time because it’s your home race/you asked us nicely/we’re drunk/Mercedes did it”.

    2. He was 0.0023% underweight on the minimun weight. So not alot!

      1. thatscienceguy
        30th June 2013, 2:43

        0.23% under, not 0.0023%

  23. If the scales had been properly calibrated for the first weighing he would not have failed, he would have been at exactly minimum weight, the missing 0.5 kg would have been added back. The subsequent draining test would not have happened and the missing 1.5 kg would not have been found. So he was unlucky to get caught. I doubt it was deliberate, it’s difficult and expensive to weigh accurately to 0.1% (0.64 kg) at several hundred kilos gross weight.

  24. While I feel for Di Resta, its important to note that there are 4 factors that effect the overall weight of a car:

    1. Dry Weight of the Car
    2. Fuel/Fluid Weight
    3. Driver Weight
    4. Tyre Weight

    I wonder which component is under weight? Is it the onset of a fluid leak?

  25. soundscape (@)
    30th June 2013, 4:44

    So how does this happen?

    I can’t imagine they’ve changed the cars dramatically enough to lose 500g, so where has the weight gone? Why aren’t both Force India’s underweight? Is it the driver?

    1. Autosport reports that the issue is with DiResta – that is, he weighed less than his normal weight and did not inform/advise the team of this, so they did not make a correction/update to the car’s ballast.

      Oh Paul…silly, silly Paul.

      No doubt he’ll blame it 100% on the team. F.I. would’ve protested/appealed/contested the stewards’ ruling if there was any possibility of their not being at fault – so no doubt they’re guilty and it’s once again the DiResta Follies.

    2. @dragoll @soundscape Paul was underwight, but the team should have known that and adjusted accordingly

      1. Exactly. The broadcast showed RBR weighing Vettel just before Q1 for example, so it seems some teams at least are mindful of it and plan accordingly.

        I also wonder where an F1 driver can even find a few lazy kg to lose, while they aren’t cyclist thin they are hardly packing on the weight.

  26. @keithcollantine , Now that Di Resta is sent to the back of the field , would it change the tyres on which button starts ( now 10th ) or does he still have the choice of starting on whatever tyres ?

  27. So, no one is going to comment how in the high-tech world of F1, the scales can be miscalibrated by half a kilo?

    1. I think that they should get a huge set of balance scales and just put a 642kg calibrated weight on one side and get the driver to drive on to the other and see if it balances.

    2. There is a half kilo leeway in the rules. It doesn’t mean that the scales are miscalibrated.

  28. After this news, I’ll be keeping an eye on Daniel Ricciardo at the start today. He’s been promoted to the clean side of the grid, only one place behind the notoriously slow-starting Webber, whose car he would dearly love to be driving next year, I’m sure. He will probably see the race as a chance to make a statement of intent.

  29. Michael Brown (@)
    30th June 2013, 13:02

    I see Di Resta is starting 21st. Penalties are applied in the order they were issued, so Van Der Garde who was originally 22nd, should have been promoted to 21st after the exclusion of Di Resta.

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