Di Resta must negotiate unfamiliar circuits to meet target
Last Updated: September 12, 2011 4:01pm
Di Resta: Big task ahead
Paul Di Resta faces a step into the unknown as he tries to help Force India achieve a top six place in the constructors' championship.
The team leapfrogged Sauber into sixth spot after the Scot finished eighth in Sunday's Italian GP, while the Swiss team's Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez both retired with gearbox problems.
However, with the European season now over, F1 turns its attention to the six 'flyaway' races to conclude the campaign - Singapore, Japan, Korea, India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.
With the exception of a test session in Abu Dhabi, Di Resta has not driven a single lap in any capacity on any of the other tracks, not even in his role as team reserve last season.
Environment
"I've not done any of the tracks coming up, apart from Abu Dhabi where I did a test at the end of last year," said Di Resta.
"So I'm not going to go to any track thinking it will be easy, not in this world, this environment.
"All I can do is go to these places as best prepared as I can be."
At least Di Resta has been assured he will not now miss any further practice sessions, as he has so far done on occasion with reserve Nico Hulkenberg deputising for either the Scot or Adrian Sutil.
"I'll be in every practice that I've not driven before," confirmed Di Resta.
"I'm not going to miss any, which is good, a bit of a relief. But I always knew it was going to be that way at the start of the year."
That will at least assist the 25-year-old as he targets more points to end his inaugural F1 campaign on a high, both for himself and the team, starting with the Singapore Grand Prix in a fortnight.
"Toro Rosso picked up a few more points on us because they had a double points finish yesterday," said Di Resta.
Update
"But our car will hopefully suit Singapore better, as it showed at tracks like Hungary, Silverstone and the Nurburgring recently.
"I think we're going to go there with a small update, and we'll be out there fighting against the teams we need to be.
"As a new track, Singapore is probably going to be one of the more difficult ones for me, so it will be about building up confidence over the weekend.
"But there's still a number of flyaway races and a lot of points available, and I'm fairly optimistic we can do well and hopefully beat Sauber again."
Credit: Sky Sports (www.skysports.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment