Di Resta - New Brit on the Grid

[Get Karter]

Another Brit (Scot) looks to be on the verge of F1 in 2011.
His CV looks pretty impressive, but which of his countrymen is he going to emulate most closely:

Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard or Allan McNish?


Starting in a midfield team gives him a harder time than the more recent British F1 GP winners of Coulthard, Button and Hamilton.

Perhaps he's doomed to the fate of a McNish or Davidson - never to get in a competitive car....

[ajprice]

In 2006 Formula 3 euroseries he won, beating some bloke called Vettel .

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formul...

[flingstam]

Mercedes really like him, so when Schumacher retires again...

[Get Karter]

flingstam said:

Mercedes really like him, so when Schumacher retires again...

That could be a tough call for Mercedes, as Force India also have their next German target, Nico Hulkenberg.

Interesting how Vettel got into F1 years before Di Resta despite losing out to him as teammate in F3.....

[Jungles]

ajprice said:

In 2006 Formula 3 euroseries he won, beating some bloke called Vettel .

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formul...

Vettel beat him in 2005 by a clear 31 points, when they were both rookies. Interestingly, di Grassi beat both Vettel and di Resta (and was di Resta's team-mate) that year. Then there was Hamilton and Sutil, who achieved 1 and 2.

If di Resta is to be judged based on F3, di Grassi should surely have a seat in F1. He's a very fiesty racer, and rarely had the advantage of being in a top team in the junior formulae.

Interestingly, 2006 was when di Resta, Vettel, Nakajima, Kobayashi, Buemi, and Grosjean were all racing each other in the same series. Perhaps the most successful grid in F3 Euroseries history in terms of number of drivers who would go on to race in F1.

Edited by Jungles on Tuesday 25th January 11:44

[Get Karter]

Jungles said:

ajprice said:

In 2006 Formula 3 euroseries he won, beating some bloke called Vettel .

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formul...

Vettel beat him in 2005 by a clear 31 points, when they were both rookies. Interestingly, di Grassi beat both Vettel and di Resta (and was di Resta's team-mate) that year. Then there was Hamilton and Sutil, who achieved 1 and 2.

If di Resta is to be judged based on F3, di Grassi should surely have a seat in F1. He's a very fiesty racer, and rarely had the advantage of being in a top team in the junior formulae.

Interestingly, 2006 was when di Resta, Vettel, Nakajima, Kobayashi, Buemi, and Grosjean were all racing each other in the same series. Perhaps the most successful grid in F3 Euroseries history in terms of number of drivers who would go on to race in F1.

Edited by Jungles on Tuesday 25th January 11:44

Interesting stuff.

So from F3 Euroseries (and some oversimplified logic):-
Di Grassi > Di Resta > Vettel

[weyland yutani]

Get Karter said:

Another Brit (Scot) looks to be on the verge of F1 in 2011.
His CV looks pretty impressive, but which of his countrymen is he going to emulate most closely:

Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard or Allan McNish?

Not forgetting Jim Clark.

Good luck to him, he seems to be a Mercedes protege so if all goes well he could be racing for Mercedes GP or McLaren in the future. Now Liuzzi's seat has been taken it's a shame that Hulkenberg wont have a drive this season though, really deserved a second consecutive season in my opinion.

Edited by weyland yutani on Tuesday 25th January 12:08

[TXWRX]

probably should be noted that in 2006 vettel was also doing the test driver bit for bmw and was doing world series by renault? i think redbull were trying to get him as much experience as possible to fastrack him through but he would have done better in F3 had he been more concentrated on it

that said i do really rate Di Resta, he's very talented and it seems he has got the seat now, next he needs deliver or unfortunatly with a team like force india he'll likely be out again by next winter in favour of another young driver who has commerical value be it a sponsor or like di resta someone like merc

Question is what will be rated as good enough to keep the seat or progress to another team? we all know sutil can put in a fast time but isn't a consistant racer, it would seem reasonable that being near or matching sutil would be enough but F1 doesn't tend to work that way

[ajprice]

Apparently he wasn't too shabby as the 3rd driver in Friday practice last year for FI, I think he will do alright. The previous Force India cars have been pretty good on fast tracks like Monza.

[RacerMDR]

Fantastic news -

[kimducati]

weyland yutani said:

Get Karter said:

Another Brit (Scot) looks to be on the verge of F1 in 2011.
His CV looks pretty impressive, but which of his countrymen is he going to emulate most closely:

Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard or Allan McNish?

Not forgetting Jim Clark.

Good luck to him, he seems to be a Mercedes protege so if all goes well he could be racing for Mercedes GP or McLaren in the future. Now Liuzzi's seat has been taken it's a shame that Hulkenberg wont have a drive this season though, really deserved a second consecutive season in my opinion.

Edited by weyland yutani on Tuesday 25th January 12:08

Wont be McLaren on the back of his Merc contacts - the Merc - McL partnership is pretty much done. McL are developing their own motor - for the new 4 pot turbo rules, I assume.
Kim

[rubystone]

My own view is that what Di Resta should be concerned about is the effect of Mark Smith leaving FIF1. Last year's car was just about holding its head above water, but signs were that the team was dropping back into the midfield. I see someone posted about Hulkenberg in an earlier post - is that correct or did they mean Rosberg or has Hulk nabbed a 3rd driver spot?

But it is good to see Paul get his chance and he will give 150% effort all the time. He's not a guy to squander a chance.

[team underdog]

rubystone said:

My own view is that what Di Resta should be concerned about is the effect of Mark Smith leaving FIF1. Last year's car was just about holding its head above water, but signs were that the team was dropping back into the midfield. I see someone posted about Hulkenberg in an earlier post - is that correct or did they mean Rosberg or has Hulk nabbed a 3rd driver spot?

But it is good to see Paul get his chance and he will give 150% effort all the time. He's not a guy to squander a chance.

The Hulk is rumoured to have signed as third driver and will do the odd Friday.

[Some Gump]

I really hope he does well - good to see a brit make it into F1.

I used to kind of know PDR when I was a youngun - he raced against my brother in Cadet up in scotland. If he ends up winning anything (and I hope he does), I can be that tit in the bar banging on about the time my little brother beat Paul Di Resta with 3 wheels on his kart (2nd last corner collision destroied his pikey Anderson stub axle)..

[Jungles]

Get Karter said:

Interesting stuff.

So from F3 Euroseries (and some oversimplified logic):-
Di Grassi > Di Resta > Vettel

An expanded list for current drivers would be like this:

Rosberg > Hamilton > Kubica > Sutil > Di Grassi > Vettel >= Di Resta > Kobayashi >= Buemi

Rosberg beat Hamilton in 2004. Both beat Kubica in that same year. Sutil has consistently finished after Hamilton in F3 in two seasons, but finished ahead of Di Grassi, who finished ahead of Vettel in 2005. Vettel beat Di Resta by a large margin in their rookie year and was beaten by Di Resta by one place in the same team in their second year, so they're pretty much even but Vettel has the edge. Vettel beat Kobi, who beat Buemi, but Buemi got his revenge over Kobi the year after (when Hulkenberg sat between Buemi and Kobi in the standings), but Kobi had beat Buemi over a larger margin so he has the edge.

Edited by Jungles on Wednesday 26th January 05:08

[Gwagon111]

Don't forget, Di Resta put the sts up the works DTM merc, in a 2 year old C Class, to lead the championship at one point as well. That's the mark of a racing great .

[Get Karter]

Jungles said:

Get Karter said:

Interesting stuff.

So from F3 Euroseries (and some oversimplified logic):-
Di Grassi > Di Resta > Vettel

An expanded list for current drivers would be like this:

Rosberg > Hamilton > Kubica > Sutil > Di Grassi > Vettel >= Di Resta > Kobayashi >= Buemi

Rosberg beat Hamilton in 2004. Both beat Kubica in that same year. Sutil has consistently finished after Hamilton in F3 in two seasons, but finished ahead of Di Grassi, who finished ahead of Vettel in 2005. Vettel beat Di Resta by a large margin in their rookie year and was beaten by Di Resta by one place in the same team in their second year, so they're pretty much even but Vettel has the edge. Vettel beat Kobi, who beat Buemi, but Buemi got his revenge over Kobi the year after (when Hulkenberg sat between Buemi and Kobi in the standings), but Kobi had beat Buemi over a larger margin so he has the edge.

Edited by Jungles on Wednesday 26th January 05:08

I was basing my "Di Grassi>Di Resta>Vettel" on their achievements against one another when in the same teams.
I don't like comparing drivers performances across teams.

So Vettel beating Di Resta when in a different team means nothing. Di Resta beating Vettel in the same team means something. As does Di Grassi beating Di Resta in the same team.

Anyway.....Sutil will be a serious benchmark for Di Resta's F1 ability.

[chevronb37]

I rather like PDR - he seems a most down-to-earth chap who simply gets the job done. His drive at Brands in the DTM this year was textbook - he'd won it by the end of lap 3, made the rest look amateur by comparison. Who will replace him in the works squad next year? Jamie Green seems to have driven better in an old car than he ever did in a new one but he's consistently punched above his weight in the last 2 years.

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Tonio Liuzzi can still put a potential spanner in the works. He's got a contract, recognised by the Contracts Recognition Board, to race for 2011 at Force India. Because of this he can potentially go to court and stop them racing unless he's in the car.

Stranger things have happened.

[ajprice]

Official now. Sutil/Di Resta with Hulk as reserve.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula...