Di Resta storms to seventhposted in F109 | 06 | 2013
BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA stormed from 17th on the grid to finish seventh in today's Canadian Grand Prix in his Sahara Force India. The race was won by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
But Di Resta, the 27-year-old Scot, whose qualifying was compromised by a bad call by his team, delivered the drive of the day powering through the opening 54 laps on one set of the Pirelli medium compound tyres.
"That was a hell of a drive," a delighted Di Resta, backed by watchmaker TW Steel, said immediately afterwards, "especially given the weekend we've had: no long run data from Friday through an electric box failure, then with the gearbox issue yesterday. It's been testing for the guys.
"Then, on the back of what happened in Monaco a fortnight ago — when we had the tyre issue during qualifying — you could see it all happening again.
"But strategy was key, and we went with the tyre we felt most comfortable with. On the pitwall, I think we got it absolutely spot-on.
"To be able to do 54 laps on a set of tyres? I think credit to Pirelli. i think they've been able to supply us with a tyre which we've been capable of making last so long. That was key to us being able to score points today.
"I think we knew we had a car capable of qualifying in the top six, if we hadn't had the problems we experienced in yesterday's session.
"The pace we'd shown through free practice confirmed we had the pace on the harder tyre. We would, and should, probably have started the race from sixth on the grid.
"In terms of the top three teams, I'm not sure we had the pace to beat them. But with this result, we'll go away happy. It's more points for the team in the constructors' championship, which is crucial.
"We've taken more points out of McLaren, but we need three consecutively good days, and the place to do it would be at the British Grand Prix in three weeks time," Di Resta, a global ambassador for Whyte & Mackay Whisky and who consolidated his eighth place in the drivers' championship, continued..
"I think the speed we had at the end of the opening stint allowed us to ensure we had the gap to get out in front of the cars who were originally behind us, which included my team-mate who had started from eighth on the grid.
"When you're 45 laps into a race and the team asks you to push to ensure you've opened up a large enough pitstop window to get out in front of the chasing pack, and we were able to react, that shows just how good the car is, and how good the tyres are.
"Obviously it would have been nice to have started the race on the grid where Adrian was, in eighth — that would have been nice — and if we can do that at Silverstone I believe we can deliver another really solid performance. And really give the team a major boost.
"I think today we got it absolutely spot-on. The team came on the radio and told me 'pit when you feel the tyres are ready to be changed', and that's exactly what we did. And it worked for me, and the team.
"We'd been getting quicker and quicker with every lap, and when I called at the exit of the Hairpin to say I was going to pit, we were only four-tenths down, so we made the right call.
"To go 54 laps on one set of tyres, and to be just four-tenths down on our in-laps shows we were spot-on.
"But to deliver a result where we came from 17th on the grid to finish seventh is brilliant. We came from 17th to ninth on Monaco, but this, clearly, is an even better result and just shows what we're capable of if we get qualifying right."
F1: Canadian Grand Prix — Result:
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h32m09.143
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +14.408s
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +15.942s
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +25.731s
5. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1m09.725s
6. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
7. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari +1 lap
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault +1 lap
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
11. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
13. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +1 lap
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault +1 lap
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari +2 laps
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault +2 laps
17. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth +2 laps
18. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault +2 laps
19. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth +3 laps
20. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari + 7 laps
Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.182
Not classified/retirements:
Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 45
Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 43
World Championship standings (After 7 of 19 grands prix):
Drivers:
1. Vettel 132
2. Alonso 96
3. Raikkonen 88
4. Hamilton 77
5. Webber 69
6. Rosberg 57
7. Massa 49
8. Di Resta 34
9. Grosjean 26
10. Button 25
11. Sutil 17
12. Vergne 13
13. Perez 12
14. Ricciardo 7
15. Hulkenberg 5
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 201
2. Ferrari 145
3. Mercedes 134
4. Lotus-Renault 114
5. Force India-Mercedes 51
6. McLaren-Mercedes 37
7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20
8. Sauber-Ferrari 5
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Jim McGill