Di Resta starts 10th in Spainposted in F111 | 05 | 2013
BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA will start tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix from 10th on the grid. Mercedes locked out the from row, with Nico Rosberg pipping Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.254secs. World championship leader, Sebastian Vettel, lines up third in his Red BUll
Di Resta, who finished fourth last time out in Bahrain, cruised through Q1 and Q2 before completing one run in Q3, setting a time of 1min 22.233secs round the 2.892-mile Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.
"Obviously I would have been happier to have been further up the grid," 27-year-old Di Resta, backed by TW Steel and who was watched at the track by his dad, Louis, for the first time this season, said, "but I know we have the race strategy to give us every chance of delivering a really good result tomorrow.
"We've seen right through the weekend so far that the car's fast, and I've no doubt we'll be in the mix again during the race.
"The first two qualifying sessions really went pretty much as planned, and we did what we had to in Q3.
"To be honest, I didn't quite get the maximum from Q3, because it was difficult to optimise the final sector on my out lap, but we are still in a good position for the race.
"Tyre wear will play a big role tomorrow because this place is one of the hardest tracks for the tyres. Our car, traditionally, has been easy good on its tyres, and I've no reason to expect anything different tomorrow.
"Hopefully that will work to our advantage and we can make some progress with a good strategy and not spend too much time in the pit lane. There will obviously be a lot of cars behind me with new tyres, so the race to the first corner will be crucial," Di Resta, the global ambassador for Whyte & Mackay Whisky, continued.
"I said three weeks ago to the team after finishing fourth in the Bahrain Grand Prix: 'If you want me to get on the podium, you need to give me something.'
"The fourth in Bahrain has definitely made us work harder. It was nice to get that fourth place out the way early in the season. If you'd said at the start of the season that I'd get a fourth this year, I think I would have grabbed it with both hands.
"Now though we're at the start of the long run of European races and we have to ensure we maintain the momentum we established in the opening four flyaway grands prix.
"We've given ourselves every chance of scoring more world championship points for the team by getting into the top 10.
"We've one or two areas to discuss before the start of tomorrow's race, but we're definitely ready to do racing again."
QUOTES:
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP
"It has just been working really well all weekend, we've optimised everything. After what we saw in Bahrain it is nice, but we cannot be over confident when we're thinking about the race result.
"We're surprised to be that quick, but it was a good qualifying and a good lap in the end, so I'm really, really happy with that. It's a good boost for the team, the front row is fantastic but of course we have to be a bit cautious after Bahrain.
"The team has been working really hard to be even better, understanding how to get the most out of these tyres.
"We were a bit behind in Bahrain, and we come here and there are issues again, this time it is more degrading of the tyre, so here catching up and making the most of the situation, we have improved.
"This morning was better so I am a little bit more confident. Still tomorrow is going to be a challenge."
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes GP:
"I haven't had the best of weekends up until now. This is still great for us today to be one-two on the grid but I have been struggling all weekend.
"The long runs were pretty poor, but on one-lap pace the car doesn't seem to be too bad.
"I seemed a bit lost, not knowing what to change and where to go, so I didn't make changes in practice three and into qualifying, I didn't make any changes. I wasn't 100% comfortable.
"We will do the best job we can from the start, but more of a concern is looking after the tyres. I love that we are going to try and get into Turn 1 first: that will be really good for the team.
"We have to improve our race pace. We have very good qualifying pace. I hope in the future we will get that win."
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull:
"I'm quite happy, to be honest. Yesterday and this morning I was really happy, and I think we improved the car.
"We took a different approach to the majority of people, using option tyres only. Whether that helps us tomorrow we have to wait and see. It will be a long race, it will be about tyre degradation.
"Now, with the conditions helping a little, it's a tough challenge, the tyres don't last as long as we would like."
"Mercedes are in front of us right now, and to be honest they had some long runs and didn't look too bad.
"On the long runs yesterday both Ferrari and Lotus were pretty competitive, so we can expect them to be very strong in the race."
F1 Spanish Grand Prix — Qualifying:
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m20.718s
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m20.972s +0.254s;
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m21.054s +0.336s;
4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m21.177s +0.459s;
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m21.218s +0.500s;
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.219s +0.501s;
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m21.308s +0.590s;
8. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.570s +0.852s;
9. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.069s +1.351s;
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m22.233s +1.515s;
Q2 cut-off time: 1m22.019s
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.127s +1.126s;
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.166s +1.165s;
13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m22.346s +1.345s;
14. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.166s +2.165s;
15. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.389s +1.388s;
16. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.793s +1.792s;
Q1 cut-off time: 1m23.218s
17. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m23.260s +1.532s;
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m23.318s +1.590s;
19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m24.661s +2.933s;
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m24.713s +2.985s;
21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m24.996s +3.268s;
22. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m25.070s +3.342s.
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Jim McGill