GreenBkk.com Paul Di Resta | IT'S GOING TO BE TOUGH FROM 17TH

IT'S GOING TO BE TOUGH FROM 17TH

Spa, Belgium: Saturday, August 27, 2011

Paul endured a frustrating qualifying session for his first Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. A misunderstanding by his Force India team caused him to fail to make it through to Q2.

As a result he ended qualifying 18th, but starts tomorrow's race from 17th on the grid after Pastor Maldonado was given a five-place grid penalty.

“Starting P17 is not what I had in mind for my first Belgian Grand Prix. We chose to go out at the start of Q1 and sat out the middle part so that we could make the most of the track conditions at the end of the session.

"Unfortunately it started raining again and I got caught out at the chicane and spun on what would have been my quickest lap.

"On the next lap the team called me in thinking the track was wet and that we were safe, but when I got back to the pits they told me that Kovalainen had gone quicker, which knocked me out of qualifying.

"It’s really frustrating because there was a lot more to come and we could have been much further up the grid. Fortunately Spa is a track where you can overtake so we have plenty of work to do tomorrow to try and move through the pack.”

Paul

Credit: Paul Di Resta (www.pauldiresta.com)