Di Resta's stunning Q3posted in F116 | 04 | 2011
BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA stole former Euro F3 team-mate Sebastian Vettel's thunder at the end of qualifying for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix. While world champ Vettel bagged his third-successive pole position of 2011 for Red Bull, Di Resta qualified his Force India an astonishing eighth; and all this on the day the Scot celebrated his 25th birthday.
Di Resta, who will start the race with every opportunity of scoring for his third grand prix in a row, admitted he could not have wished for a better result in qualifying
"Honestly? I could not have wished for more today," Di Resta, who outqualified his more experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil for the third race in succession, explained. "It's definitely nice to get into Q3.
"After missing the whole of FP2 yesterday we knew it was going to be difficult this morning, but we've got a small upgrade here and it certainly improved the performance today.
"Luckily I did my quickest lap in the second running in Q1, as I just struggled a little bit with balance in the others.
"This weekend was by far the most difficult of the season so far, because we effectively missed the use of three sets of tyres and we missed the track when it was at its best.
"We left first practice yesterday having not had a great session but having a good direction on set-up, and we failed to get to try that.
"So we went into this morning fairly unknown and had to carry over what the other car has done. Luckily enough I was happy with it and not too far away.
"Our race pace seems to be not too bad, so fingers crossed we can pick up some points again tomorrow as we have in the previous two grands prix."
And Di Resta, whose fastest lap in Q3 was 1min 36.190secs, was quick to add that his strong showings have not soured relations with Sutil, who lines up 11th on the grid.
"We're good friends, equally good competitors, but the main thing is we're working in a team," the Scot added. "It's a team effort because you need to have both guys in the same form and wanting the same things. It's all working well just now."
Vettel meanwhile again dominated qualifying. The German's fastest time of 1:33.706s was an almost embarrassing 0.715s faster than the McLaren of second-placed Jenson Button, whose team-mate Lewis Hamilton starts third.
There was disappointment though for Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber. The Aussie starts 18th after problems with the KERS system on his car, and a tyre error by his team.
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Chinese Grand Prix — Qualifying:
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault 1m33.706s;
2. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes 1m34.421s +0.715;
3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes 1m34.463s +0.757;
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes 1m34.670s +0.964;
5. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari 1m35.119s +1.413;
6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari 1m35.145s +1.439;
7. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m36.158s +2.452;
8. Paul di Resta, Force India-Mercedes 1m36.190s +2.484;
9. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m36.203s +2.497;
10. Vitaly Petrov, Renault No time.
Q3 cut-off time: 1m35.858s
11. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes 1m35.874s +1.388;
12. Sergio Perez, Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.053s +1.567;
13. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.236s +1.750;
14. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes 1m36.457s +1.971;
15. Rubens Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth 1m36.465s +1.979;
16. Nick Heidfeld, Renault 1m36.611s +2.125;
17. Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Cosworth 1m36.956s +2.470.
Q3 cut-off time: 1m36.147s
18. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault 1m36.468s +1.196;
19. Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus-Renault 1m37.894s +2.622;
20. Jarno Trulli, Lotus-Renault 1m38.318s +3.046;
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Virgin-Cosworth 1m39.119s +3.847;
22. Timo Glock, Virgin-Cosworth 1m39.708s +4.436;
23. Tonio Liuzzi, HRT-Cosworth 1m40.212s +4.940;
24. Narain Karthikeyan, HRT-Cosworth 1m40.445s +5.173.
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Jim McGill