Paul di Resta

[timbo]

So, the guy obviously have really good background, but coming from DTM seemed like unknown quantity to me. The example of Jan Magnusses who seemed to have lost an edge after racing in ITCC posed some warnings.

But I watched di Resta onboard footage and will say that his driving is a great pleasure to see.IMHO he has aggressive style with sharp turn in and late braking, and he is very precise on the apex. It reminded me of young M.Schumacher and Raikkonen.

How do you guys feel about him?

[mangesh]

I was about to Create Sutil Vs Resta.
I always felt Di Resta is greate talent and I was expecting him to outqualify Sutil but from the mid season and not from the first GP. I am feeling bad for Sutil now.

I would rate this as exception rookie season start maybe after Hamilton. =D>

[andrew]

I think he is a real talent that will work his way to the front. Clearly he is fast but he seems to have a very level head and has impressed a lot of people in the paddock. He is more than a match for Sutil which is amazing considering Sutil's years of experience.

I'm putting my money on a McLaren or Mercedes drive after Force India.

[ESPImperium]

Im biased being a Scottsman i will say first before i start anything else.

But he is developing well, i think that if he out performs Sutil this year, i think that it may be time for Sutil to think about moving over as i belive that Hulkenberg has a race seat for 2012, and a young tallented lineup like Di Resta/Hulkenberg is what Force India need as look at what is going on at Sauber and Toro Rosso, as there is bearly a sheet of paper between them. Di Resta looks to have that tenth and a half over Sutil at present.

Personally i think that Di Resta will be in a Mercedes mid 2012 or for the start of 2013 with Rosberg as his team mate.

[wesley123]

I actually expected nothing from Di Resta at all, but that he outqualifies and outraces the superhero Sutil from the first gp says enough of his qualities, or Sutil is just incredibly overhyped, i think it is both.

[bot6]

Sutil has always been overhyped. He never had a decent teammate up till now, and he's always been quick but prone to mistakes. That's alright for a rookie, but he never really matured.

Having Hulkenberg and Di Resta next year would be problematic for the development of the car, I think they need a more experienced driver for that purpose. Everything will depend on Sutil and if they decide to keep him.

[forty-two]

Well, and I'm bracing myself for an onslaught from my fellow forum members who happen to hail from Sunny Scotland, but I'm very pleased to see another British driver in F1, it gives me someone else to support and admire.

When DC was the only Brit in F1, I supported him, and to be honest Mark Webber also has my support, hailing as he does from a former colony (ooh, I bet he'd hate that comment!), but joking aside I do actually work for an Australian company, and know them to be very close to us Brits culturally.

Back to Mr di Resta, I think that perhaps equal to his skills behind the wheel of frankly a middle of the road car, is the way he handles himself in front of the media. Very impressive for a young guy, I just hope he doesn't make me eat my words and make an Andy Murray esque comment about "anyone but England" as my admiration would then evaporate rather rapidly.

Keep up the good work Paul!

[Tozza Mazza]

Di Resta has sure proved Liuzzi and other critics wrong, and looks to be a very promising driver, possibly even a future WDC in the right car. I don't think MSC will stick it out to the end of 2012, and wouldn't be surprised if he walked mid season. I think Paul is his perfect replacement at Mercedes. He drove for the AMG works team in DTM for four seasons, and has Mercedes backing, this could see him partnering Rosberg in a great team. If JB calls it quits before schumi (unlikely i know), then Mercedes might decide to stick him in a Macca, which would really be great to see.

[lolzi]

I don't think being in DTM would be anything but a good thing. In terms of the racing, the DTM is a bit more mature with less hot-headed youngsters trying to make a name for themselves.
I don't think Jan Magnussen lost his edge after ITCC, the guy was just a lazy smoker. Probably the most talented racer Denmark ever produced and he had to waste it by being an idiot!

[bot6]

Considering all the hype around Sutil, the fact that Di Resta is comprehensively outracing him shows he has great potential. He's not quite ready for a top team seat yet though. I think he still has to gain some experience with driver technical input and car set-up in a smaller team for a couple of seasons. FI is an ideal structure for that. Then, when he'll step up, he'll be fully ready. The seat at Mercedes won't be available till the end of 2012. I don't think Schumacher is the kind of guy who quits when the going gets tough, and he'll see his contract till the end. If his qualifying performances improve and stop ruining his solid race ones, he might even stay an extra year. In 2014, a Rosberg - Di Resta lineup would make much more sense than in 2012.

Another possibility might be to see him switch to Red Bull, taking Webber's vacant seat if both Buemi and Aguersuari fail to deliver this year. But as I said, I don't think he's quite ready for a top team seat yet...

[PlatinumZealot]

Splits with manager Anthony Hamilton.... the man that got him into Force India... hmm I wonder what went wrong between those two? Hamilton not paying him enough attention? Or Too harsh on him?

[Gridlock]

He'll be driving for McLaren when Jenson retires. Or so I heard. Bit of a conflict of interest.

[bhall]

Maybe he realized that being the father of a driver does not a driver manager make.

[raymondu999]

From what I gather it's conflict of interest, Paul worried that, being Lewis' dad, Antony wouldn't compete aggressively against Lewis for a drive. Which, considering Button is locked in at McLaren, and there are a few teams Lewis could talk to that only have 1 open drive, could effectively lock Paul out of many possible drives.

[Lycoming]

But Anthony doesn't manage Lewis anymore, right?