SCOT PAUL DI RESTA will tomorrow begin his final preparations in Barcelona for his Formula One race debut in the Australian Grand Prix in just under three weeks.
The re-scheduled four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain follows the postponement of the Bahrain Grand Prix — originally scheduled for this weekend — in the wake of the political unrest in the island state.
"I don't think there's any doubt this test will be performance-related rather than specifically reliability-related. I'm pretty sure everyone will be turning up with their race-spec package fitted to the cars and ready to go."
And the 24-year-old from Bathgate is confident he and his Force India team will use the time to the maximum benefit.
"There's going to be a lot of fine-tuning done to the cars this week, because these are the cars which will be shipped to Melbourne as soon as the test finishes," Di Resta explained today before hopping on the plane to Spain.
This test will be performance-related
"Like everyone else, I also think there will be a fair bit of time spent understanding the new Pirelli tyres and working out how to get the maximum performance and durability from them."
And unlike the previous test at Barcelona last month, and the earlier tests at Valenzia and Jerez, Di Resta believes everyone will get a better indication of true pace of all 12 teams and 24 drivers.
"I don't think there's any doubt this test will be performance-related rather than specifically reliability-related," he continued. "I'm pretty sure everyone will be turning up with their race-spec package fitted to the cars and ready to go.
"I also think we'll see teams running race-distance simulations, so yeh, I think when we leave Barcelona at the weekend we'll have a pretty good idea about everyone's true pace."
And the F1 racing rookie is quietly content with the performance and reliability of his Mercedes-powered Force India VJM04 car.
"We're comfortable with where we are," Di Resta, who will partner team-mate Adrian Sutil at Force India, explained. "We achieved a lot at the previous test at Barcelona and I know the guys have been working flat-out back at the factory.
I've never been fitter or felt stronger
"We know we're improving with every test, and that's all you can ask. We know the areas we want to improve, and that's what we'll be concentrating on this week; after all, that's exactly what testing is for."
Di Resta is scheduled to drive tomorrow and Wednesday, before resting on Thursday. The Scot will then be back behind the wheel for the final day's testing on Friday.
The Scot though has taken full advantage of the postponement of the Bahrain race to work even harder on his fitness.
"I've had an extra two weeks where I could really push-on with my fitness, and I really feel the benefit," he said. "I've never been fitter or felt stronger.
"I've been mixing it up quite a bit: I've done a lot of running, cycling, rowing and weights; plus I've even been doing yoga. It's a really good mixture, and the yoga has been excellent for improving my flexibility."
And Di Resta is hopeful the Bahrain Grand prix will get the green light to go ahead later in the year.
"The decision taken by the Crown Prince was, I think, the correct one under the circumstances," he said. "I think everyone was disappointed to lose a race, but everyone fully understands why the decision was made to postpone it.
"We all just hope we can get back out there soon and race again this year, because it's a fantastic facility and track; and they are fully committed to Formula One and the grand prix."
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Jim McGill