Di Resta starts 11thposted in F106 | 10 | 2012

    BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA will start tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka from 11th on the grid, despite having sat out Friday afternoon's Free Practice session (see more official photos of Paul in action at Suzuka today).

    The Sahara Force India driver finished 12th-fastest at the end of today's qualifying session, after posting a quickest lap of 1min 32.327secs.

    But after a number of post-session penalties were issued — including a five-place drop for his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg — Di Resta was elevated to 11th and is now targeting further world championship points in tomorrow's race.                        

    “It was quite a tough session with traffic today," the 26-year-old Scot explained, "and even on my quick lap in Q2 I was slightly compromised in the second sector.

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    "I locked a wheel and it may only have cost half-a-tenth, but that’s how close the margin was to the top 10.

    "I think given what happened yesterday, with losing so much track time, we can be pretty happy with our performance today.

    "We have got ourselves up there, close to the top 10 and in with a chance of points.

    "For tomorrow it’s clear that tyre wear will be a big issue for everyone, but hopefully we can use the strategy to challenge the people in front.

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    "There are some question marks going into the race because I’ve done no high fuel running, but we have data with the other car.”

    Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel bagged his fourth successive Suzuka pole position, edging out his team-mate Mark Webber by 0.251s.

    McLaren's Jenson Button lines up third, alongside the Sauber of 'home hero' Kamui Kobayashi. The Ferrari of world championship leader is back in seventh, with Lewis Hamilton's McLaren ninth.

    F1 Japanese Grand Prix — Qualifying (Provisional):

    1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m30.839s;

    2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m31.090s +0.251;

    3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.294s +0.451;

    4. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m31.700s +0.861;

    5. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m31.989s +1.059;

    6. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m32.022s +1.183;

    7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m32.114s +1.275;

    8. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m32.208s +1.369;

    9. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.327s +1.488;

    10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes no time;

    Q2 cut-off time: 1m32.272s

    11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m32.293s +0.792;

    12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m32.327s +0.826;

    13. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m32.469s +0.968;

    14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m32.512s +1.011;

    15. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.625s +1.124;

    16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m32.954s +1.453;

    17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.368s +1.867;

    Q1 cut-off time: 1m33.370s

    18. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m33.405s +1.376;

    19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m34.657s +2.628;

    20. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m35.213s +3.184;

    21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m35.385s +3.356;

    22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m35.429s +3.400;

    23. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m35.432s +3.403;

    24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m36.734s +4.705.

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    Jim McGill

     

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