Paul di Resta’s F1 education continues in Malaysia

Apr 8 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

PAUL DI RESTA’S Formula One education continued with another top-class display in testing in Malaysia.

The Bathgate Bullet finished 15th in practise on the track in Sepang and he revealed he could see improvements from his Melbourne debut just a few weeks ago.

He said: “It ran a bit more smoothly today but the only downside was that I didn’t have any prior experience of the circuit and hadn’t run in the simulator beforehand so the track was completely new to me.

“It’s a very open circuit and, even though it sounds strange, these cars don’t feel that quick when you’re going round the track.

“On others you think “Oh wow – this is something special” but it’s so wide you don’t get that impression here.

“I got myself into a relatively comfortable zone quite quickly, and was able to try a few things on the set-up.

“It lets me see the car in another environment and get a different impression of it.”

Di Resta clocked faster lap times than F1 heavyweights Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock while his speedy one minute 36.89 seconds was just 1.9 seconds behind the fastest man in practice — McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

“I’m feeling a lot more comfortable and I think that was why I was able to get up to speed relatively quickly as you know what to expect,” revealed di Resta.

“All the same it’s a new track and you need to find your braking point and so on. I also got to work with another engineer and set of mechanics this week and see the differences between the two teams, so it’s all getting me more integrated into the whole team.”

Next stop for di Resta is China, which will be another new circuit for the 23-year-old but he is looking forward to taking to the track.

He added: “It’s another new track in China and again I won’t have had any prior running without any simulator work so I just have to make myself as prepared as possible and get myself up to speed.

“It’s not easy but I think any running is valuable. I’m not going for times, after all. The other drivers have done the first Grand Prix, and all the winter testing, and they are more comfortable than I am at the moment. I will always be playing catch-up in a way.

“In these circumstances you can’t get carried away and over-drive as you will take one step forward and three steps back.

“Once you go over that limit it’s difficult to go back, so you have to build yourself up gradually and know when you’re at the top.”