Di Resta: Seventh heavenposted in F131 | 07 | 2011
McLAREN'S JENSON BUTTON may have won the rain-hit Hungarian Grand Prix, but perhaps the happiest man at the Hungaroring was Scot Paul di Resta. The 25-year-old from Bathgate collected his career-best result when he slithered his Force India VJM04 to seventh place in testing conditions.
And Di Resta, who once again delivered a mature drive which betrays the fact this is his rookie season in Formula One, only narrowly missed being taken out when Lewis Hamilton rejoined the race after spinning at the chicane. The former world champ received a drive-through penalty from the race stewards for the incident which forced Di Resta on to the grass at over 100mph to avoid the McLaren.
"Thankfully I saw him quite early," Di Resta (pictured left) explained afterwards. "I saw as I approached the chicane that he'd had a bit of a moment. I was a surprised he did what he did, but at the same time there was time for me to take action.
"I can fully understand what he was trying to do. But there's no harsh feelings. I've spoken to Lewis about it, and he said he just didn't see me. But if it had cost us a lot of points, then it would have been a hard one to take."
And Di Resta, who had failed to score in his past eight grands prix after scoring in his penning two races, admitted he was delighted to get back among the points.
"It's a massive thing for me," the Scot, who had to park his car on the warm-down lap simply because his Force India was almost out of fuel, continued.
"What's happened in the last three races has been way out of my control and there was definitely points up for grabs in all three of them.
See more photos of Paul di Resta in Hungary today
"We lost a little bit in the strategy today; probably the middle stint wasn't as good as it should have been, but at the end, when the tricky conditions came I was able to fight my way back through.
"We were definitely quicker than the guys behind and it was just a case of bringing the car home and making sure there was enough fuel on board. It's certainly a fantastic feeling to get back into the points and it's a great boost for both me and the team as we head into the summer break."
Button meanwhile, in his 200th official grand prix start, labelled his win at the track where he won his first GP in 2006, described his latest win as "amazing."
"For some reason I like these conditions, don't ask me my why, but it worked out again," said Button. "A great call from the team to put me on the prime tyre when they did, a great call from all of us. All round it has been an amazing weekend.
"I want to say a big thank you to the team. Everyone has worked so hard to produce the car we have now. I think we are going into the break on a nice high. Every day we are on holiday we'll be thinking about Spa."
Button finished 3.588secs ahead of Sebastian Vettel; the Red Bull driver extended his lead in the world championship to 85 points ahead of his nearest rival, team-mate Mark Webber who finished fifth, one place behind Hamilton.
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Jim McGill