BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA not only made his Formula One racing debut in the Australian Grand Prix, but the 24-year-old scored his first world championship point. And the F1 rookie admitted the waiting had 'definitely been worth it'.
Di Resta, who started his first F1 race with Force India from 14th on the grid, two places ahead of his more experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil, delivered a strong and mature performance throughout the 58 laps round the tight and demanding Albert Park street circuit in downtown Melbourne.
"To score a world championship point in my first grand prix is a great achievement, both for me and the team. Hopefully this will be the first of many, but it's fantastic to know the records show I've already scored a world championship point."
— Paul di Resta
Immediately all five red lights straddling the start line been flicked off to signal the start of the 2011 F1 season, the Scot displayed his race craft, pace and skill.
Searing past a number of cars immediately ahead of him, and avoiding a collision which ultimately forced the retirement of seven-times world champ Michael Schumacher's Mercedes, Di Resta quickly found himself up to 10th.
"Hopefully the first point of many"
Settling quickly into the pace and rhythm of F1, the 2010 DTM champ swapped places with Sutil throughout the race before different fuel strategies meant the German eased ahead.
But hours after the Force India duo took the chequered flag in 11th and 12th places respectively, the Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, who had originally finished seventh and eight, were disqualified for technical infringements. That decision elevated Di Resta to 10th, and his first world championship point.
"To score a world championship point in my first grand prix is a great achievement, both for me and the team," Di Resta said afterwards. "Hopefully this will be the first of many, but it's fantastic to know the records show I've already scored a world championship point."
And the quietly-spoken and ambitious Scot, while acknowledging he was satisfied with his performance over the weekend, also admitted he'd made a few mistakes in the race but knows he has already learned from the.
"Yes, I did make a few mistakes, especially on in-laps with the procedures that you have to go through, but this is still a learning experience for me and so much of it is new," he explained afterwards.
"Physically I wasn't too bad"
"So long as I don't make the same mistake twice, I can move on from that and I know I'll be faster in the next race in Malaysia. The mistakes didn't look so much from the outside but I know I lost enough time to make a difference to me being able to challenge other people.
"Physically I wasn't too bad. To be honest, I would have said I had more problems with the race simulation at Barcelona, but I think this Australia is well-known for not being too hard.
"I think the concentration level — with everything that is going on in the cockpit, knowing and remembering when you can use the rear wing, the KERS and just managing it all — is one of the toughest aspects of racing a modern F1 car."
And Di Resta also acknowledged he felt the overall performance was better than the team had expected after the pre-season tests in Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona.
"It was definitely quite productive for a first race," he continued. "I made a reasonable start and really had just had a reasonable battle with Kamui Kobayashi. But I didn't come off the best from that battle and I think our speed showed where we finished.
"Relatively, looking at it our performance was better than we expected this weekend. Coming into this we knew it was going to be hard for the first three grands prix until some new upgrades come in and a new philosophy from our design department."
"I need to work on my performance"
The Scot too is keen to work at staying ahead of team-mate Sutil, recognised in the pitlane as one of the grittiest and quickest drivers in F1.
"I sat out Friday morning free practice to allow our test driver Nico (Hulkenberg) time in the race car," Di Resta explained, "so given the fact I missed one complete session, it's been quite a big job to stay in front.
"I managed to qualify in front of Adrian, and I was in front of him — and stayed in front — at the start of the race as well. I think what I need to work on is my own performance in qualifying, learning how the track improves and how it is at low fuel and stay in front of him.
"It's just about being on the top all the time and using your engineer to predict what the car is going to be like going into a qualifying session, what the track is going to be like and how it evolves."
Now though, Di Resta will have a few days well-deserved rest and reflection before heading to Malaysia and the second grand prix at Sepang on April 10.
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Jim McGill
Caption: Paul leads the pack at the start of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.