Valencia Analysis: Paul’s race
Wednesday ,29 June 2011
“We were just affected by lack of track time”
A rookie season is a steep learning curve for every F1 driver, and 2011 has proved to be just that for Paul Di Resta, as each new event provides fresh challenges.
After frustration in Monaco and Canada, where two good races and potential top 10 finishes were spoiled by incidents and penalties, Paul finally had a smooth run in Valencia. Unfortunately it came on a day when just about everyone else did too! In the end he had to be content with 14th place, although it could have been a lot better.
Paul knew his way around Valencia after running in FP1 last year, but nevertheless he still had a lot to learn compared to his rivals, as the track is not as easy as it may look. Unfortunately Friday turned into disaster for him after Nico Hulkenberg crashed the car in FP1.
Repairs meant that Paul couldn’t get out until the last 10 minutes of the afternoon session. Unable to try the prime tyre or do any proper race preparation, he was left with a lot of work to do on Saturday morning. Given the circumstances, he did well to qualify 12th.
The race began well when he passed Vitaly Petrov at the start and got up to 11th. He hovered outside the points for quite a while, but ultimately slipped back. With Adrian running in the points and battling for eighth, he had priority on the timing of his pit stops, and that meant on occasion Paul had to stop later than would have been ideal.
Inevitably that cost him a few places, and among those who got by were Jaime Alguersuari and Sergio Perez, who had gambled on two and one-stop strategies respectively.
“We had two very good stints, the second and third,” says Paul. “But we were compromised a bit on strategy to help Adrian’s side. We definitely didn’t time it to cover enough people at different points of the Grand Prix, so we gave up a few places.
“On paper it looks very bad, but it probably wasn’t as bad as it should have been! There’s not much else I could have done, I got everything out of the strategy, but there were points when I was losing seconds a lap on tyre degradation.
He did at least have some fun, getting involved in one of the most fraught battles in the midfield: “It got a bit crazy! I came out in the middle of the battle. Kobayashi got by me, I managed to get back by him, and got away again, which was good. It was difficult to pass with the DRS. Even slower cars, when I was lapping them, it was hard. It was not as effective as it has been.
“It was an uphill struggle all weekend, but we got very close to Adrian in qualifying. The car has improved, which is very positive, and we came in with a good update kit. Adrian did a good job, and he got some points for the team, which was good to see as well, so credit to him. He got what he could out of it, while we were just affected by lack of track time.”
The result may have been less than Paul expected – or even deserved – but Valencia was at least another race finished, and another track that he will return to next year with a lot more knowledge.
“It was definitely a difficult one, a lot of things happened. People in the paddock know about Friday even if those outside don’t. It was a hard race, especially when you’ve gone a bit backwards. But there were a couple of very good stints there, and I would say I extracted as much as I could out of the car. Now I’m looking forward to Silverstone!”
Credit: Force India (www.forceindiaf1.com)
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