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Paul Di Resta has been at the Autosport international and they have written a few articles about what he has said which includes

- Di Resta held initial talks with McLaren about a 2013 seat
- Di Resta was suggested to Force India by Martin Whitmarsh
- Di Resta is determined to get a seat at a top team in 2014
- Di Resta thinks that Perez beat him to the seat due to money (which Perez tweeted that money can create opportunity but results are all that matter at the end of the day)
- Di Resta is surprised that Force India are taking so long to confirm his team mate

I remember that Mallya had a go at Sutil a couple of years ago because he was being open about talking to other teams and not showing loyalty to Force India... I am a fan of Di Resta and actually think he did really well to out perform the Force India at the beginning of 2012 at least. But considering he has not even been officially confirmed by Force India as a driver for next season, he is being rather ungrateful!

Thoughts?

He's got a contract for next year, and no...he's being openly ambitious and letting the other teams know he means business.

Force India aren't a top team, until they're regularly winning races they can't really complain.

I would guess he's trying to give his side of the story in the whole driver swap affair, to silence critics who claim he was 'overlooked' for the Mclaren seat.

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In all honesty, drivers in F1 prefer to have better team than Force India such as Mclaren, RBR or Ferrari. And, taken out and lines, these thoughts really give impression of unthankfulness, but are we sure that he doesn't take time to be thankful? Perhaps these thoughts are not the whole picture. Yet, maybe some of his thoughts are just the signs of times.

All in all, I really dislike unthankfulness, but I hope Di Resta is just being wrongly interpreted.

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The end is near

Vijay has previously said he wouldn't stand in the way of any of his drivers moving to a top team. (Fissi being the obvious example)

DiResta was placed in Force India by Merc Not a suggestion by Whitmarsh. think it was part of the engine deal.

If Perez beat him to the Macca seat because of money then he must have been looking more than Sergio is getting paid. Because Sergio isn't taking money with him.

Driver for Mid Field team wants a top seat. Not really a shock.

Surprised about the other seat. How is that dis-respectful? Everyone is wondering what is going on.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

His statement that Perez was chosen for money was a bit low IMO. McLaren are not a team that are going to take a crap pay driver.

That Perez may represent a better commercial prospect because he's from the Americas is, I think, the reality. It's subtle, but it's different. I can understand Perez's attitude about this today on twitter!

Di Resta needs to watch his gob a little bit. The only reason he got a Force India seat was because Merc out him there. Perez isn't bringing much, if any, money to McLaren, Telmex are sticking with Sauber. Perez showed for promise last season than Di Resta has in two, that's why he was overlooked.

One feels Paul is getting a little frustrated that younger drives are coming in and showing more promise than he has and it's worrying him. He knows 2013 is make or break. If he loses against his team mate again then his F1 career will likely be finished and he certainly won't get a top seat. Even if he beats his team mate he'll need to do so pretty convincingly to make any one of the top 5 take notice of him. The odds are against him at the moment, he just didn't do enough in 2012 to show he'd be worth a shot in a top car.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Perez represents Slim money, not just Telmex. How that will pan out at McLaren we don't know yet. There are other companies, other crossover opportunities, etc.

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Di Resta was being truthful, is that not what we want has fans?

There's a difference between being truthful and disrespect. Di Resta basically said Perez only got the McLaren seat because he had money and Paul didn't. Which is bullshit. Perez got it on merit and Paul doesn't like it. He doesn't know any more about Perez's sponsorship any more than we do really. We know Telmex are keeping their money with Sauber though, not McLaren.

Di Resta smacks of someone who has a very high sense of self importance and when others don't meet those standards of him he gets a bit bitchy about them. He was overlooked because he didn't do enough to get the top team's attention. Simple as that. He'll have to try harder this year.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Or...he was in a slower car than the Sauber...and doesn't have the backing of a potential new title sponsor, or millions of fans in a new area of the world.

You can't take the world of F1 as black and white...it's 50 shades of...oh.

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He got beaten by his team mate. Perez didn't. That's one very good reason.

The four times the Sauber was quick enough to challenge for a potential win Perez had it on the podium 3/4. Kobayashi once in Japan and even that was a very tall order, 3rd was about the best he could get. The Force India was a fast enough car to win once, in Brazil Hulk was at the top fighting and Di Resta was nowhere. It's easy to see why McLaren saw more potential in Checo IMO.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

- Di Resta held initial talks with McLaren about a 2013 seat
Nothing wrong with this at all. He'd be stupid not to see what was available, seeing as Hamilton was leaving.

- Di Resta was suggested to Force India by Martin Whitmarsh
Nothing wrong with this. I'm sure things like this happen with every driver.


- Di Resta is determined to get a seat at a top team in 2014
Of course he is, as are all the drivers. Force India will also know this.

- Di Resta thinks that Perez beat him to the seat due to money (which Perez tweeted that money can create opportunity but results are all that matter at the end of the day)
Could well be true.

- Di Resta is surprised that Force India are taking so long to confirm his team mate
I am aswell. It must be detrimental to leave such things so late.

There was an interesting little interview with Sir Frank Williams at Peter Windsors "Flying LAp". Where Windsor asked Williams why McLaren chose Perez.
Williams : He is backed by one of the richest men in the world.
Windsor: But McLaren said it was not about money
Williams: They obviously said it, hahaha ( laughing)

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

I am surprised by his lack of charm and respect. And from someone who seems so corporate. But I can't actually think of one big stand out moment from him, can you? Maybe a few 'solid' drives. I am sure that he is quite fast but life in F1 is about a little more than that. Why aren't sponsors falling over themselves to sponsor him? Is it because he is a bit dull? Just being safe pair of hands is not enough? And why did Perez get the McLaren drive instead of him? Is it because he scored 20 more points than Di Resta. Or that he scored several podiums and beat his team mate? Or is it because he has more charisma and happens to come from a country that has money to invest in F1. It's a bit of everything isn't it? If I ran a Formula 1 team I would put Perez in a car before Di Resta every time. Even if it was just an emotional decision. I think he's more dynamic and exciting. I just like him more.

Paul needs to do a lot more to expect seat at top team. Hulkenberg outshined him this year. Being consistent is good, but people dont remember the consistency, they do remember one off great outstanding performance though. And that is what you need to move top of the ladder in F1.
Paul has had few good races this year, but Hulkenberg stole the show in 2nd half with some impressive drives. Even though he messed up in Brazil the fight for P1 will be remembered longer than 4th place drives.
F1 drivers are ambitious, I can understand that, but sometimes its in their best interest to shut up and just drive. Specially when they are not having best of times on the track.

That is obvious.
McLaren is losing the Free engine deal soon. So that will significantly increase the money they have to spend. There is no surprise that it played huge role in getting Perez there. I have zero doubt about it. They do need money.
But he still had better year than PDR by big margin. To say that he only got there instead of Paul himself only because of money is bit low from Paul.

I agree but surely if thats how Di Resta feels, for us as fans its far more interesting that he says this (even if we think its wrong) than if he says nothing.

Whatever happened behind the scenes,( maybe PdR was promised something),
he made 2 mistakes
1. to change his management, and join Jenson Buttons management ( wher JB is involved) wich a team IMO does not really like
2. to talk about it ( money & Perez)

I can understand PdRs frustration, but he did himself no favour with both.

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

JBs involvement is minimal. All he done was invest in the company at this point he has nothing to do with the management side of things.

Oh and Whitmarsh even said they had no problem with that.

As for needing money. According to reports they are doing quite well financially, McLaren is expanding everything at the minute so they ain't cash strapped. Plus they would have planned ahead before signing Perez AND if they needed the money they wouldn't have talked to Lewis would they or offered him the big dough to stay? He would have cost an extra 10mill+ a year. No sponsorship from Perez is guaranteed he has basically cut the ties to Slim, No new sponsors on the uniform during the wee chat thing too. Needing the money doesn't make sense in any shape or form.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Most sensible thing anyone has said yet. It doesn't matter how you dress it up, there is no way that McLaren have started to chose their drivers primarily based on sponsorship. I don't really see a problem with what di Resta has said about Force India, but I think it's rather low of him to suggest that Perez was signed because he was well backed.

It's very possible that they were unwilling to continue running two British drivers without the added PR boost of them both being WDCs though. But that's hardly a new situation, it's pretty rare for teams to have two drivers of the same nationality.

At the time Perez was picked, he looked like the best available young gun. And it was Hulkenberg, not di Resta, who stole his thunder after that. If Paul wants a better seat, he needs to do more to earn it on track next year.

McLaren is very dependant on sponsoring, Maybe they are well financially ATM, but to have someone like Slim in the background, would not be bad for the future

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

Bravo. Nice to have sense of the forum for once.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

I can't figure out if di Resta is actually bitter or if he just lacks a filter and is blunt. Regardless, however, he needs to be careful because the attitude he is portraying is not a very attractive one to top teams. I wouldn't want him anywhere near my sponsors, would be concerned about him being a team player and I'd be worried about his impact on team morale.

Beyond that, however, I simply do not understand these drivers who are 'solid' in the midfield believing that they're going to get a top drive. History shows that a driver has to catch people's attention and the drivers who have gone on to become something special have done that. It's arguably better to take the hero or zero approach and be quick but crash a lot than it is to be reliable, dependable and cautious. IMO there are good reasons for this as well. First, a driver who catches people's attention is showing their potential whereas a driver who is just reliable could be anything. Second, a driver who is prepared to take risks is demonstrating confidence in themselves, which is a necessary ingredient in so much of Formula 1 when it comes to overtaking, strategic decisions, and moving performance forward. Third, there's the old adage that you can make a fast driver less erratic but you can't make a slow driver fast.

If there's a lack of depth of talent on the grid then a driver like di Resta does have a shot at being in a top team as the reliable number 2 or being picked as a driver to help start the journey of a new team that wants to make it big. But there's no lacking depth of talent at the moment. The top five teams could all be comprised of superstars and great drivers and exciting up and coming talent, with drivers to spare. On a team's shopping list before him would be Hulkenberg, Maldonado, Grosjean (this year dependent) and Ricciardo. The only way a driver like di Resta is going to make himself an attractive quality to a top team is with a positive attitude, developmental capability and a great team player - all of which played a big part in why Coulthard had such a long career.

And what's he doing? Showing that he's negative and anything but a team player.

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Formerly kai_

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It does seem to me that he's come close to straddling that line between expressing his ambition to drive for a championship team and in effect saying he can't wait to get out of a car that is beneath his great driving skills and 'feedback' (which I've been led to believe here is his tremendously overlooked value).

I'm sure Force India hopes that he earns a ride with a top team in 2014 as it would likely mean he delivered quite a few points and maybe some podiums. So in that regard I'm sure the team is quite happy to hear his confidence... I'm just not sure if he feels getting that ride is a byproduct of results.

I do get a very strong feeling based on this coming up a couple times that he does seem bitter about not getting the McLaren ride, and that it was I guess snatched out from under him by someone less qualified.

While I'm not so sold on Perez as some are, and I don't think McLaren is going to turn away any money that follows Perez. It's also not like he was bypassed by some gerkin because he had a bunch of money. When all of the changes in play in mid-September, Perez had a 2-to-1 edge in points (65-32) and 3 podiums to 0. So I don't see that his seat at McLaren was taken away from him by some pay driver, which does seem to be the inference. (The flip side for me is Perez hardly validated McLaren's gamble on Perez by taking just the 1 point in Singapore as the decision was apparently being wrapped up and announced in the wake of Singapore, and then scoreless the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Di Resta got 12 points there and 2 more the rest of the way.)

But IMO it hardly seems surprising that Perez would get that ride over Di Resta, money or no money. If the 2012 results had been reversed, and Perez still got the seat, I think that seems a much stronger argument that backing was the difference between the 2.

The problem with Di Resta was that he was over hyped by much of the British media (especially Coulthard). I remember when people where rating Di Resta as the top rookie (for some reason) but since the McLaren drive left, his hype has come to a drastic halt.

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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

What he said about Perez was a bit disrespectful and he seems frustrated.

But there's nothing good or bad about how he is treating Force India. Its almost like a game. It may work. A big team might notice him or like his brave attitude, and give him a seat in 2014. Or it may not work and Force India might dump him because they feel disrespected. If the former happens Di Resta would not have done anything wrong, if the latter happens Force India would not have done anything wrong. Everything is fair in this game.

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Firstly v he didn't say it was all about money, just that it helped Perez. Certainly McLaren have come out and said having two British drivers limits their sponsor ship deals, so adding two and two together it does show money had some involvement. I think, refreshingly, he is just being open in what he thinks unless you can provide a direct quote on him being rude or phrasing his answers lime a douche he's just being open.

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minus Vettel

Not at all, he held talks with a team that was vastly superior to Force India in both the immediate and the long term, which is the norm in F1. It's not a charity event and there are no prizes for coming second. The teams put their interests first and the drivers must put their interests first when looking at their next contract. The result will be a compromise between the two. When the two can't compromise, we get what happened with Hamilton, or in another way, what didn't happen between Damon Hill and McLaren for the 1998 season. When you consider how long Force India take to confirm their drivers, I'm not surprised he wanted to jump to a faster team as quickly as possible either.

Different philosophies to running teams, and drivers. Some respond better to driving for their seat, some respond better to the security of the following season, like Massa did in the final races of 2012.

Disrespectfulness towards teams, I think that the Button/Williams/BAR-Honda contract dispute in 2004 and Alonso and Hamilton during 2007 were far more disrespectful. Those were exceptional cases. di Resta's conduct this year has been quite normal.

But they wouldn't have signed a driver just to have someone in the background. Mainly because Slim could say no when the time comes. It's no guarantee and then they are paying a driver who isn't bringing what they want and as Sergio as basically said his Telemex ties are cut to take the seat it would be a very big gamble just to take him on the off chance Slim might pay up at a future date.

PLUS Sergio is only on a 3 year deal. I'm pretty sure McLaren have budgeted for the engine costs within in that time as Sergios links wouldn't have been on the table. If they were accounting based on Hammy they are already something like 30mill in the black. A company the size of McLaren doesn't have a 10mill bill or whatever it is coming up and not have it sorted well in advance. So going on that by the time they actually need Slims money Sergio could be out of contract. After getting paid around 3mill a year I can't see him wanting to revert back to pay driver status. Plus the money left in the bank now Hammy has gone makes a very big dent in that bill.

Then of course if money was the problem, why not take on Maldo. Quick and brings what has been reported as 70mill and no sponsor conflictions. So they could have his money this year instead of hedging their bets on a drivers links to the money which are not guaranteed and would come into play just as his contract is running out.

Again no sense.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Some contributors here live in a fantasy land

1. McLaren's Vodafone sponsorship deal ends at the end of 2013, they NEED a headline sponsor ($20m or more annually) for 2014 on, given the state of the world economy

a. How many corporations do you think are interested in investing $60m+ in F1 over the next 3 years?
b. How many drivers with a proven podium track record have a national and personal link to corporations with that kind of money?
c. How many F1 teams with race winning potential have recent history and practical experience of headline sponsors in the telecoms industry?

Of course the decision to hire Perez had a financial element, the fit is perfect, those of you that are naive enough to believe that Perez was selected on his performances only will have to suck eggs when McLaren announce their 2014 sponsors, unless of course, Perez proves not up to the job and is not retained.

2. Many McLaren supporters have been highly critical of the team for operating with two race winning drivers who get equal support, we have to wait and see how competitive Perez will be in 2013, I for one suspect that equal status, if ever more than lip service, will not last beyond a few races.

I have no doubt that di Resta was placed at Force India by Mercedes on the understanding that he'd replace Michael for 2013, Hamilton's decision to chase the golden mile and Mercedes decision to fund it is a corporate kick in the teeth for PdR, if understandable.

It's not at all surprising that McLaren don't want two Brits for commercial reasons, nor would it be a surprise that they don't want him for team strategy reasons, di Resta was very competitive with Hulkenberg in 2012, sadly the races in which he was quicker saw the cars pace only good enough for minor places, which was not the case when Hulkenberg caught the eye.

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Sebastien Vettel, the youngest driver ever to have the fastest car in F1 for four consecutive years

They would. We don't know what arrangements they made in the back ground. Maybe they have already a deal with Telmex for 2014.
Slim has not to pay directly Perez wages, when he maybe sponsors McLaren
Perez may be cheaper as driver but if he brings not the same amount of points & victorys and supporters, Hamilton brought, they saved nothing.
Sir Frank Williams obviously thinks money playeed a role at signing Perez, IMO he is long enough in the buisness to know how it works.

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"Everything you can imagine is real." Pablo Picasso

Paul needs to be careful about what he say's. It seems that since he's not got the Mclaren the hype that he had has gone. Out of the 3 drivers in the running for seat Paul, Perez, and Hulk 2 of them did something that I and others can remember about them.

Perez - 3 times on podium on pace.
Hulk - Fighting for the win in Brazil on pure pace.
What's Paul done?

Mclaren might not want 2 British drivers. If it was for sponsorship why not pick up a driver from Asia? They boat loads of money over there. At the time Perez was the best young gun there and I think if Maldo was not crashing out a lot then with he's win, he could have been in the running.

I agree that he is being disrespectful to FI, it would make me laugh if FI didn't give him a race seat but gave him test driver status or something similar.

The talks with Mclaren were likely due to his management change to JB's management team, In all honesty I cant see a Diresta/ Mclaren partnership at all in his entire career.

FI are probably glad to see their drivers in the spotlight, as long as it is not making the team look bad.
All publicity highlights the team, through association, and thats what they are there for. The more coverage they get the happier the sponsors are.


Edit

Ref the Mclaren seat, dont forget, it is not just about cash for a drive, it is nationality and support from the drivers region that influences sponsors or potential sponsors. South America is a huge market with little current involvement in F1

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I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

Marx (Groucho)

Yes because Frank knows everything that goes on in Woking. Like everyone else that is his assumption not FACT. What have victories got to with it? They don't get prize money for a win and as long as they finish third or higher in the WDC they are no worse off that way. As for fans, How much of the bill is paid for by Merch. Very little I would think. Remember McLaren have always managed big sponsors. Even when they weren't winning. Oh and it's not about Sergio on his own winning as many races and scoring as many points. You know they are called a team for a reason.

All the talk of slim sponsoring McLaren is based on nothing but Sergios links. Plenty of drivers have had sponsors that have went away when they signed to top teams. Might as well say Merc signed Hammy because of Reebok so they can use his links to get sponsorship when the Puma deal ends.

As for needing a new sponsor after 2013. For all we know Vodafone will Re-sign.

Seriously people are reading waaaayyy too much into things and trying to use a crystal ball too much.

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

I can't understand the attitude towards Paul on these forums sometimes, I can only assume it's because he's British. If it was a young Italian or Spanish hotshot we'd be praising his Mediterranean temperament and confidence in his own abilities, but because he's British he's not allowed to be confident and outspoken.

Potential sponsors aren't going to mind these statements, they show ambition!

He does need to prove himself this year, but I think he will. Opinions on driver abilities change from race to race, but I think he will silence a few doubters this year, at least enough to justify his confidence, which seems to rub some people up the wrong way!

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Its not really disrespectful, the team will know he wants to be in a race winning car, they should be more worried if he's comfortable there, when people get comfortable thats when they're more likely to not be giving their all.

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

I think some members on this topic are being far more disrespectful to Di Resta. In no way shape or form is he being disrespectful.

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RSR Racing

I fail to see the disrespect.

- Di Resta held initial talks with McLaren about a 2013 seat > Webber did the same with Ferrari, is he dissing Red Bull? Force India no doubt will have had talks with drivers in other teams to try and poach them at some point in their racing history... are they disrespecting their current drivers?
- Di Resta was suggested to Force India by Martin Whitmarsh > Most drivers are suggested to teams by sponsors.
- Di Resta is determined to get a seat at a top team in 2014 > Who isn't?
- Di Resta thinks that Perez beat him to the seat due to money (which Perez tweeted that money can create opportunity but results are all that matter at the end of the day) > Perez has answered that one for me.
- Di Resta is surprised that Force India are taking so long to confirm his team mate > Surprise isn't disrespect.

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"You are the universe expressing itself as a Human for a little while..."