Tough day for Di Restaposted in F128 | 07 | 2013

BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA heads into the Formula One mid-season break hoping his Sahara Force India team can rediscover its early season form.

The 27-year-old Scot battled all weekend in Hungary with his Mercedes-powered car which struggled for balance, and failed to maximise the new construction of Pirelli tyres.

Di Resta's woes began on Saturday when, having been eyeing a top 10 result in qualifying, he could only manage a disappointing 18th on the grid.

And after a blistering start to today's 70-lap race at the Hungaroring, when he stormed through from 18th to 13th by the end of the opening lap, it was a day to forget for the Scot.

"It's certainly not the race you want right before you head into the four-week mid-season break," a disappointed and frustrated Di Resta admitted today.

"I always knew Hungary was going to be tough, but I didn't expect it to be this bad.

"Initially qualifying went well, but when we put the set of new 'soft' compound Pirelli tyres on for our final run in Q1, for some reason we don't get the performance gain we should have.

"Normally putting the 'softs' on should improve the lap time by around 2.2 seconds. For some reason we only gained 0.6s.

"When the team told me over the radio that we'd only managed 18th-fastest and were out of qualifying, I was shocked. I couldn't believe it.

"I genuinely thought we had a car capable of making it into the top 10."

Related: Paul di Resta baffled by tyre woes

And despite delivering one of the best starts of his F1 career, Di Resta's race gradually slipped into reverse, culminating with the team retiring the car on the penultimate lap.

"After the opening lap, it was all pretty difficult, and we struggled right through the race," he continued.

"We didn't quite have the balance right: the second set of tyres didn't last as long as we'd hoped; and generally it was really just a tough, tough day."

But Di Resta, who is looking forward to recharging his batteries, is confident his team can turn things around before they arrive at Spa in four weeks.

"I know the guys in the team have a lot of ideas to discuss, all of which are aimed at improving our second half of the season," he said.

"They've certainly done a terrific job up until now, and punched above our weight. But we've let it slip slightly as a team over these last couple of grands prix, and we need to bounce back."

The race was won by Lewis Hamilton, who collected his first win for Mercedes GP. The former world champ, who started from pole position, dominated the race to win in Hungary for the fourth time.

"We were on backfoot when we came in, not expecting it to be on pole and were surprised with that," Hamilton, whose 22nd F1 career win has closed the gap on world championship leader Sebastian Vettel to 48 points, said.

"I think this is probably one of the most important grand prix wins of my career. To go to a new team and win with Mercedes-Benz is a real privilege, the guys did a great job.

"It is an incredible feeling and my team did an incredible job."

Vettel had to content himself with third place in his Red Bull, behind the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel's team-mate, Aussie Mark Webber, came through from 10th on the grid to finish fourth, ahead of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.

Romain Grosjean received a 20-second post-race penalty for hitting Jenson Button's McLaren during an overtaking manoeuvre.

Strangely, the steward's decision still left the Lotus driver in sixth place, as he was 21.524s ahead of seventh-placed Button when they crossed the finish line.

F1 Hungarian Grand Prix — Result (Provisional):

1. Hamilton Mercedes

2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault

3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault

4. Webber Red Bull-Renault

5. Alonso Ferrari

6. Grosjean Lotus-Renault

7. Button McLaren-Mercedes

8. Massa Ferrari

9. Perez McLaren-Mercedes

10. Maldonado Williams-Renault

11. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari

12. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari

13. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari

14. van der Garde Caterham-Renault

15. Pic Caterham-Renault

16. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth

17. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth

DNF Di Resta Force India-Mercedes

DNF Rosberg Mercedes

DNF Bottas Williams-Renault

DNF Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari

DNF Sutil Force India-Mercedes

World Championship standings (After 10 of 19 grands prix):

Drivers:

1. Vettel 172

2. Raikkonen 134

3. Alonso 133

4. Hamilton 124

5. Webber 105

6. Rosberg 84

7. Massa 61

8. Grosjean 49

9. Button 39

10. Di Resta 36

11. Sutil 23

12. Perez 18

13. Vergne 13

14. Ricciardo 11

15. Hulkenberg 7

16. Maldonado 1

Constructors:

1. Red Bull-Renault 277

2. Mercedes 208

3. Ferrari 194

4. Lotus-Renault 183

5. Force India-Mercedes 59

6. McLaren-Mercedes 57

7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 24

8. Sauber-Ferrari 7

9. Williams-Renault 1

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Jim McGill