It’s too early to get carried away: Paul di Resta
Bangalore, 23 April 2013: With the completion of the fly-away races, the F1 circus moves to Europe for its first race in Spain on May 12. Sahara Force India drivers Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil were in Bangalore for a promotion and watched the Royal Challengers’ cricket match and also briefly interacted with the reporters. A blog released on Monday showed the team in an upbeat mood. But Paul cautioned, it is too early to get carried away and warned that things could quickly change in F1.
The mood from a blog in the team website:
Celebrating a great result is one of the sweetest parts of being in a Formula One team. The tension, the adrenaline and all the emotions get discharged and you can just relax and enjoy the fruit of your work. It’s a moment for pats on the back, for telling each other well done and fly to the next race in an upbeat mood.
As we head back to Europe for the start of crucial series of races closer to home, these are the feelings in the Sahara Force India camp. The race in Bahrain showed some brilliant indication of the potential of our car: in Paul’s case, a perfect performance so close to rewarding him with his first ever podium! To see our driver lead the race and battle with World Champions, leaving behind some huge rivals to bring home 12 points is a fantastic feeling, and one we hope to feel over and over again this season.
Paul drove a faultless race on a track he loves: he was smooth when he needed to be, aggressive when required. He finished the race on a two-stop strategy when other teams required four, a testament to both the VJM06 balance and Paul’s fine tyre management skills. In the end, our ace could not stop Räikkönen and Grosjean from finishing on the podium: but in a Championship with so many bright stars, a fourth place does a lot for a team’s position in the standings.
There is optimism also in Adrian’s camp. He was extremely fast on the Sakhir track, but the first lap collision with Massa left him with a long and hard way up the rankings. Still, recovering to 13th position was an impressive feat: especially so when you consider that from lap 3 he was five seconds faster than eventual race winner Vettel over the race distance! While we know a rival’s mistake cost him the chance to get some big points, the confidence that the VJM06 and Adrian are a powerful combination make us look eagerly on to the next few rounds.
We may have missed out on a podium yesterday, but the feeling within the team is that we are growing stronger each race. We are facing mighty rivals and we are increasingly doing so on a level footing; and when luck will be on our side (and our opponents will stay away from crashing into our cars!) we will strike for an even better result.
The Bahrain Grand Prix confirmed us in fifth position in the Constructors’ Championship standings. As we head back to Europe for races in Spain and Monaco, this is a great situation to build on. Everyone in the team is buzzing with excitement, and we can’t wait to go racing again. Stick with us – the best is yet to come!
ends
