Paul di Resta promises Force India resurgence

Sahara Force India driver Paul di Resta believes his team is still rough around the edges but is confident of a good showing in the coming weeks.u00a0

Di Resta admitted this season’s car is currently not at par with the top teams’ cars, but he is assured the team will strive to make it as competitive as they can.

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Paul di Resta during last week's Australian GP. Pic/Getty Images

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“It is technical. It’s not capable of challenging the top teams. But the car is good and reliable. We are progressing and with further upgrades in the next three to four weeks we should start getting good benefits,” said the 25-year-old.

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Regardless, the Scot, who earned his team a precious point with a 10th place finish in the season-opening Australian GP last Sunday, is hoping the team can better last season’s performance. The Vijay Mallya co-owned team finished sixth in the constructors’ championship last season. “The team’s stated aim is to challenge for fifth place in theu00a0constructors’ championship so that’s what we want to achieve.

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The road ahead

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Yes, the midfield looks especially strong this year, but we will look to progress from last year when we finished sixth. Everybody in the team is really

motivated this year.

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“There’s a good feeling and a belief that we can build on the momentum we generated towards the end of last year,” said Di Resta.

Force India’s next test is at this weekend’s Malaysian GP, and Di Resta is not expecting an easy outing: “The heat and the humidity makes this race (Malaysian GP) one of the toughest of the season — especially if it’s a dry race under the sun. It’s up there withu00a0Singapore as the most physically demanding race. Also, there’s always the threat of rain to keep you on your toes.

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“There are some high speed corners where you feel the forces on your neck. In fact it’s a totally different circuit to Melbourne last week.u00a0

“So it will be interesting to see how our car feels here in comparison.”

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The Hulk’s promise

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Teammate Nico Hulkenberg showed great potential during pre-season testing (outpacing Vettel couple of times), but had a disappointing start to the F1 season.

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The German’s race ended after an opening lap tangle that caused him to retire along with Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov.

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Nevertheless, the 24-year-old is confident of a better showing at the Sepang International Circuit: “It’s only the second race. Personally, I had a good qualifying in Melbourne. Can’t comment on the race as it was just one lap long for me. We will definitely be trying to push for points. But it is very competitive. We got to keep our heads down and keep pushing.”

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