I would put money on the fact that Paul di Resta will be racing for Force India in 2011. The Scotsman, who has been driving in the DTM series in recent seasons, is expected to be named as the Silverstone team’s test driver at some point this week. The new car will run in the next couple of days at Silverstone, just for a shakedown and will then be sent off to Spain for next week’s tests.
If you look at what happened to Tonio Liuzzi it is fairly clear that he agreed to join the team as a reserve driver on the understanding that h would race in 2010 and I see no reason why Di Resta would have done anything other than that. Adrian Sutil is a decent and fairly quick driver but he has been wildly inconsistent despite his years of experience in F1 and my feeling is that he will be the man moving on at the end of 2010. The interesting thing this year will be to see how Sutil and Liuzzi compare. At the end of last year the Italian was already much more consistent but as the car was not hugely competitive after Monza this did not really show up. Sutil does have speed in qualifying but he rarely holds it together in a race. There are also some questions about his technical feedback, which is a key element in F1 these days.
Di Resta was magnificent in his inaugural year in the DTM in 2007, a serious challenger in a two-year-old car. Since then he only got better.
The switch back from touring cars to single-seaters will be tough, however, and I hope di Resta gets enough track time this year to fully prepare him for an F1 campaign in 2011. I did hear some talk about him doing some Friday running at the expense of one of the regular race drivers during the season…any word on this, Joe?
I agree with your opinion about the Force India drivers.
Liuzzi can be blindingly quick (won 8 out of 10 races in 2004 to become F3000 champion) and he speed isn’t something which one loses, it was born with him. I’m sure his “hip-hopper style” and party animal allures are over, Tonio is maturing fast.
Sutil is also quick on street tracks and in the rain, but he’s seriously lacking consistency. If he was a real winner, he should have overtaken Kimi’s (slower) Ferrari last year at Monza for the podium!
Good chances for di Resta who’s already proven his worth at the Young Drivers Test last December in Jerez. Fingers crossed!
Di resta seemed couldn’t follow the highly competitive opposites in DTM 2009 season. Although he was really great in 2008 and he was well deserved his same year car. I think he is a good driver but in my opinion he must remain focused in order to have success in F1.
i have never rated sutil and think he’s had more than enough time to prove himself. confess to not knowing much about di resta, but would gladly see him take sutils drive
Joe,
What do you make of the idea of diResta driving on Fridays at some of the races this year?
I am very glad he has finally been given a chance in F1 and I think he is going to surprise a few people. According to Lee McKenzie she hosted the announcement of his drive in Glasgow this morning.
I hope he makes it into a race seat next season as he should have been there two or three years ago and I had visions of him disappearing from the F1 seen with his potential never realised like McNish.
When I first heard of the Firday drive I thought it may be to put pressure on the existing drivers and that maybe one of them would not complete the season. I am sure they are less than happy about one of them losing seat time on a Friday while someone who has a short time to impress eats into their tyre and engine allocation.
Di Resta’s a real talent. I’ve always been amazed that he never progressed in single seaters beyond F3. I’ve been following him since the year he beat Vettel to the title. He tested in GP2 shortly after but I was rather mystified when he ended up in the DTM instead. Obviously we have the benefit of hindsight now, but if Vettel is good enough to be considered a future champion, then I think di Resta should be as well.
I disagree on Sutil, though. I don’t think he’s a future star but I think it’s worth Force India keeping hold of him – he’s good enough, and he’s bringing sponsorship. I’d even go as far as to say I can see him at Mercedes in the future – if/when Rosberg goes, he’d make a good number 2 to Michael (or whoever the team leader may be) as he’s not a world-beater and he’s got the right passport.
I do rate Tonio as well but there did seem to be the odd muttering of discontent around his performances at the end of the season, so he needs to do the business this year. Or maybe both will go – there was a rumour that if Heidfeld were to sign for Mercedes as 3rd driver, he’d have a race clause for next year. I think Force India would be a possibility for him, with Merc engines and his previous employment there. But he hasn’t signed for Merc yet…
Ecclestone told Germany’s Sport Bild yesterday: “I do not believe in the participation of USF1 and Campos.
“Instead, I have good contact with Stefan and am trying to get this team a starting place,” said the 79-year-old Briton.
Best wishes
GD
[...] closest to getting on the grid was di Resta, who is Force India’s new reserve driver, tipped to step up to a race seat next year. Davidson will be back commentating on BBC Radio 5 Live, and is [...]
while comparing sutil and tonio, i would rate tonio little higher, yes sutil is experiencied but he has had is fair chances, tonio is new and exciting……..also look in forward to Di.resta
@ Istvan Simon
i think it would be unfair to say that sutil wasn’t fast enough at monza 2009 . As he did the “Fastest Lap”!!!!!!
with an ever improving car, and good hungry drivers, it is going to do a world of good for both the teams and the drivers,
and as far as Di.resta is concerned, he should be given chance in 2011 season,and try with old experienced drivers for 2010 ( with a good improving car)…..and am sure they are gonna give a hard time to the renaults………….
And what you know Sutil trashed Liuzzi & now we know that team is looking a way to get rid of Liuzzi… that is if they can manage to buy out the contract.