planetf1.com

I checked. He didn't have that many retirements, the last race of course was a biggie.

The general feel I have been getting from people is that di Resta doesn't really deserve his place in F1 and Perez doesn't deserve his place at McLaren.

Both didn't end the season particularly well but showed more than enough form over the season as a whole to prove that they both deserved the admiration of the big teams mid-season.

di Resta out performed the car in the first part of the season and Hulkenberg struggled. You cannot blame a lack of experience for this considering they had both previously had one full season and one season as a Friday driver in F1.

It is also worth mentioning that di Resta and Hulkenberg were the closest in qualifying out of all of the team mates over the season.

Very emotive question, in that it supposes he was ‘up-hill’ in the first place?!

Definitely hugely talented though, as being DTM world champ will re-enforce.

Compared to the likes of Maldonado, Perez and suchlike, he seems to lack a certain spark?? But is that him, our just our perception of what we think an F1 driver should be? Time will tell....

I’m going to do a Kimi and go to bed without really giving a sh#t one way or the other (much like many of PD’s fans I shouldn’t imagine).

Night night possums

I think the problem with Di Resta was that he was coming into F1 with a big mouth and the belief that he would be right up there and completely outshine his team mate, however that was not the case and he was put in his place big time.

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Danger is real, fear is a choice.
PF1 Pick 10 Competition
Best Round Result: 1st (Monaco 2012)
Podiums: 4
2013 Championship Standing: 78th

I was just reading his comments from an item on ESPNF1 today, and the comment about his approach really hit home.

My perspective on di Resta is he's one of those drivers in the grey area of the grid. Really don't have much opinion on him, because he really hasn't done much one way or the other to catch my attention. He's just sort of there.

So ready his comment to "Sporting Life":

"Next year is a big one for me," di Resta told Sporting Life. "I need to do my stuff because it will be performance based. I think there'll be a few movements at the top, and hopefully I'll be a part of that. I felt ready for it this year, but for whatever reason it didn't happen, which was not my decision. I'll just keep doing my job on track to hopefully keep my name in the frame. I've good relationships with all the teams, and with senior people, which I think you need to have."

Really?.... Other than having some good connections through his representative, I can't say that I have seen anything from him in the last 2 years that would give him cause to think he would have been in line for a top opening this year, but missed out this year for no apparent reason. His teammate seemed to push the Force India to its maximum ability as the year went on, and became a factor in races. Perez got podiums, and seems to be evaluated as a very talented prodigy. And the season's 'bad boys/crash boys" seemed to show a lot more pace. I just haven't seen anything 'special' from him. He had a good resume when he arrived, but lots have arrived with good resumes and became career midfield drivers.

He might develop, personally, I hope he will as I've enjoyed watching Force India's development from the Midland/Spyker back marker days. But I think he's going to need to show he can push a car to its maximum or beyond before he gets serious consideration for one of the top 3-4 teams.

Like he said he has good connections with most teams, because he's a good people person and has great developing skills (So people in the know say) so or though he's lacked something on the track it seems he is able to offer vital feedback to teams, which could potentially keep him in F1, his people and feedback skills.

Maybe next year he will improve when it really matters, as he was doing fine against the Hulk for the first half of the season. He just needs to get the results when it matters to beat his team mate (Latter in the season)




He was and has done that in the 2012 season, often beating the Hulk, but the second part of the season he seemed to lack that killer edge consistency.

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

The later part of his comments made me wonder, especially as I agree with you about the 2012 season.

Di Resta admitted that his form hadn't been great in the final races of 2012 but hopes Force India will benefit from switching attention to next year's car at an early stage.

"The end of my season wasn't great. We had mechanical issues, a chassis change, and ultimately the style of my driving did not suit for the last few races. Overall, I had ups and downs, although there were still some very big positives. We got very close to being on the podium in Singapore, where we felt we were slightly robbed when a safety car came out because it was in touching distance there.

"Our performance slipped after that as we didn't develop at the rate of other people. All I can hope is when we switched off on this year's car it will pay dividends for next year in terms of our performance in Australia."

Force India struck me as being a team on the upswing toward the end of the season. They progressed more IMO, Sauber would have been the team that I would have described as starting stronger, but apparently not developing as much as some of the other competition.

Going back to Singapore, he finished 4th. Hulk followed that with a 7th in Japan, 6th in Korea, 8th in India, Di Resta had a 9th in Abu Dhabi with a 1st lap retirement by Hulk, 8th in Austin, and Hulk ended up 5th in Brazil after dicing for the win for an extended period.

If by "our performance" he means "my performance" slipped late, I wouldn't disagree, but if "our" he means Force India, I can't agree that it was a weak finish to the season as the last stint, they were definitely punching above their weight toward the end.

I guess part of what bothers me, is I really respect what Force India has done, and he seems to be more focused on personally reaching a higher rung on F1's ladder with someone else, than driving his current seat to a higher spot. Which given the competition for seats and who apparently will be without seats next March, that probably is a better focus. Certainly, I don't think I'd be very flattered if I were his bosses at FI.

He's talking about him self there and how his races went for him personally with the team. It seems after the chassis change etc he struggled more then the Hulk who he was even with before which would explain maybe he has a sensitive driving style (Ala Button)

Of course he wants to go to a bigger team, like any driver however while in FI he's worked well there with his vital feedback, and that's why they are keeping him, as not only does he clearly have potential to do better for the whole course of the season but he's got very good people and development skills.

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

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F1 fan since 97...
Kimi Raikkonen World Champion 2007
Gotta love this guy!!!!
....Just leave me Alone!!!!
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Di Resta is incredibly overrated. He has
No spark, was dominated by The Hulk, who
Is a seriously good driver. Yes he scored
A 4th in Singapore but he did nothing
Worth mentioning as usual. Unlike hulkenberg
Going round the outside of Schumacher at
La source or overtaking the hardest too overtake
Driver in formula one, whilst also passing grosjean.
That was stunning.