Di Resta: Sepang Q&Aposted in F107 | 04 | 2011
BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA heads into his second Formula One Grand Prix this weekend when he tackles the heat and humidity of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Ahead of free practice tomorrow at the Sepang circuit outside Kuala Lumpar, the 24-year-old Scot spoke to Scotcars.
Scotcars: What are your feelings after the first race in Australia?
Paul di Resta: Generally, you've got to be very positive from it. We went to the race knowing it was going to be very difficult after our performance in winter testing and we weren't exactly where we needed to be. But we knew the car had good reliability to last to the end of the race if anyone had any problems. That was the intention, and it went in that direction.
Was it difficult to miss FP1?
PdR: It's not easy when you have to sit out practice, especially in Melbourne given it's a street track. You are one session behind everybody but it's a challenge. The team decided that Nico was going to be in the car in FP1 and I got that chance last year. I'm not going to say it's easy but I'm going to have to deal with it. I'm going to be sitting out FP1 here in Malaysia so the challenge is going to be a bit more difficult if the weather changes.
In Australia, there was a moment when you had a run on Kobayashi approaching the fast left/right and he appeared to lose momentum relative to you — it seemed you were very close to clipping his right-rear wheel when that happened. How close was it?
PdR: It was quite close. I thought he was a bit hard. Given that he had made a mistake he wasn't as fair as he could have been. But it's racing. It just sets the standard that you always have to fight pretty hard. I'm not going to say too much about it and I'll deal with the situation if it arises again, but at the same time maybe I could have been a bit more forceful. Looking back, it didn't make any difference to the result.
The changes made to the car in Australia appeared to dial out a lot of the problems you had in testing. Does that mean we can expect a further improved performance as the team builds on what was learned two weeks ago?
PdR: You will see a little more performance from us relative to the Barcelona test. Australia is difficult to gauge; we definitely improved the car and we have improved again, but you won't see anything radical. These next two grands prix are going to be pretty difficult and we definitely need to be at the top of our game. We're looking at introducing some bigger upgrades coming into the European season and hopefully we will see the benefits of that.
You've taken a very methodical step-by-step approach to the start of your F1 career. Is it good to have a point to your name already, meaning you have ticked two boxes — the first finish and the first point?
PdR: It is. It was my first grand prix in what was a midfield car and given the task it was always going to be difficult. But we've come out of it with a point and it ticks another box and lets me focus on something else.