Di Resta: It won't be easyposted in F123 | 09 | 2011
BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA endured a frustrating Friday Free Practice ahead of this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix. World champion-elect Sebastien Vettel, and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in both sessions.
Di Resta though, who had posted the ninth-quickest time in FP1 on his first time behind the wheel of his Force India VJM04 at the Marina Bay street circuit, sat out most of FP2.
As a result, he managed only 13 laps in FP1 and a further eight in FP2 after a hydraulic brake issue left his car stranded in the Force India garage for much of the session.
But the Scot (pictured against the dramatic night-time Singapore skyline today) remained upbeat and positive that it will not affect his race performance.
"If anywhere was crucial to get laps, it is around here," Di Resta, who posted a fastest time of 1min 50.345secs in FP2 to finish the session 13th, six places behind his team-mate Adrian Sutil, admitted.
"But in Monaco, I lost FP2 with a gearbox problem and still qualified in front of Adrian.
"It's not going to be an easy task, but you have to deal with these situations. The guys worked hard try and get the car out in time so big credit to them for doing that in this heat.
See more photos of Paul in action in Singapore today
"In general, our performance isn't too bad. We've shown strongly, despite the limited time I've had on the track. Adrian showed the car's pace, but I can't say much more than that.
"I have no tyre wear data and no idea of the balance for the start of the race. I've just got to go with the baseline setup tomorrow morning.
"I've got an idea of the track. It's very technical and there's a lot to it. It's about building confidence as, like Monaco, there's not much room for error and you have to get close tot he walls to get the maximum from the car.
"It’s not ideal because you need to build your confidence on a street circuit and find the limits because there is little margin for error.
"But we have a decent platform — given our lack of running — to build from, and that's what I plan to do tomorrow."
Vettel, who can clinch his second world championship this weekend, played down his performance in free practice; the German instead claims he expects things to be very tight this weekend.
"I wouldn't call it advantage, I think it looked pretty tight," Vettel, who was 0.201s quicker than the Ferrari of second-placed Fernando Alonso in FP2, explained. "It depends where and when and who was out, we have to wait and see.
"It is Friday. Tomorrow is Saturday and we worry about FP3. Then qualifying and then the race. The feeling in the car was alright. We have to see. We have to look how the others were, do our homework tonight and then see what we can do tomorrow.
"We did work quite a bit, the car was good though. The baseline was not too bad, I think we can still have to make a good step overnight so now we see what the others did and we will do our homework."
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Jim McGill