Di Resta questions team after Q1 nightmareposted in F108 | 06 | 2013
BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA will start from 17th on the grid for tomorrow's Canadian Grand Prix after his Sahara Force India team made another major error for the second consecutive race.
And a clearly angry Di Resta made it clear where the blame lay when he spoke in the pits afterwards.
A fortnight after making the wrong call on tyres in Q1 at Monaco, the team opted to repair a small glitch in his car's seamless shift gerabox software midway through the opening qualifying session.
The delay for the repair, which the 27-year-old Scot believes could have been made in the break between Q1 and Q2, meant Di Resta sat in the pits while the track was at its best.
As intermittent rain showers swept across the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the need to be on the track at the right time was paramount.
Yet Di Resta's team — when it was clear times were coming down as the track dried between the intermittent rain — decided to carry out a minor repair. The question to be asked of the team was: "Why?"
It was the very question the Scot — who topped the timesheets in opening free practice, and who today was clearly angered and disappointed by the team's performance — asked afterwards.
"Something was wrong with the gearbox at the beginning of the session, and while we were in the garage trying to rectify it the track was at its driest," Di Resta, backed by Whyte & Mackay Whisky, explained.
"When we went back out it rained, and unfortunately there's not much you can do when you're in that position.
"For a second race running we've not done a good enough job and it needs to be rectified, because that's letting the whole team down.
"The big thing is, why was there a problem in the first place? The question then is: why did we try to fix it and not just go out, because the repair was not going to make a difference.
"There has been an error, people have apologised for their error and I accept that. The bit I can't accept is that it's two weeks in a row. If it had happened just here, it would have been easier to brush off.
"I was aware of the problem with the gearbox when I was out on the track, and I reported it, but why we chose to fix it at that point is something we need to discuss, because all we had to do then was focus on making it through to Q2.
"We now need to look ahead and try to come up with a masterplan for tomorrow."
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Jim McGill