JOB DONE IN QUALI: NOW IT GETS TOUGH
Marina Bay, Singapore: Saturday, September 24, 2011
Paul will start his first Singapore Grand Prix from 10th on the grid in his Mercedes-powered Force India VJM04.
Afterwards Paul, who along with his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil didn't complete a lap in Q3, defended the team's decision to sit out the session.
"Of course you always want to be out on the track," Paul explained, "but for some of the slower teams we have to use an extra set of tyres in Q1 to get through to Q2; ironically, today we'd actually have managed to get through without using those tyres because we were fast enough after our first run. But, of course, you don't know that at the time.
"We then used another two sets in Q2 and then there's no point going out in Q3 because you're in a losing battle; we're not going to qualify in front of cars that are quicker and also have fresher tyres.
"It's been a difficult weekend anyway, because I'm going into the race having done no high fuel runs because I had to sit out the whole of Free Practice 2 yesterday, with the hydraulic issues the car suffered.
"We've chosen a safe strategy for the race. We've a bit of an idea about how the car will handle with the high fuel load, but that's simply based on what Adrian did yesterday.
"It definitely looked promising, but there are cars around us who are going to be very close to us in terms of pace, and at certain times of the race.
"The conditions are very similar to Malaysia; they're tough because of the heat and humidity. But I think here, even although it's night and it's a little bit cooler, there's no air.
"You find yourself struggling to find fresh air, and because you're in a concrete jungle on the track; you're surrounded by high walls on the circuit, plus the cars are running extremely hot.
"It will be a long race tomorrow, the longest race of the year; there's even a strong possibility it will hit the two-hour limit mark.
"Because we didn't do a lap in Q3, the way the rules are written, Adrian starts ahead of me simply because he has a lower number on his car.
"But we'll start on different strategies tomorrow, so it'll be interesting. To a degree we're in the unknown, in relation to my car, simply because of the lack of time we've spent on track; and we especially haven't done any long runs.
"I haven't done a tyre comparison, and I don't know what the degradation is like. So far we've gone with a set-up which we hope is going to be good on both cars.
"It's been a difficult weekend; the loss of FP2 yesterday cost us, but as long as you're close to your team-mate — our aim was to get both cars into the top 10, which we achieved.
"Now we want to make sure we get a double points score for the constructors' championship, and that's what we'll set out to do. W definitely want to extend our lead over Sauber in the race for sixth.
"We came here with a small upgrade, it's worked well. Fair play to the guys back in the factory at Silverstone; they're pushing hard. Now Adrian and I have to make sure we do the business on the track tomorrow, and bring home the points."
Paul
Credit: Paul Di Resta (www.pauldiresta.com)
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