di Resta set for Mercedes switch?

Apr 21 2011 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

PAUL DI RESTA failed to score a Formula One point for the first time at the Chinese Grand Prix but the Bathgate Bullet was still in impressive form as he steered home in 11th place.

And his impressive start to his maiden season in F1 has seen him linked with a switch to Mercedes next season to replace seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher.

Reports at the weekend claimed Mercedes were keeping a close eye on the 25-year-old who has strong ties with the team having driven for them in DT3 where he won the title last season.

His early form in Formula One has been nothing short of staggering as he has regularly out driven and out scored more experienced drivers to finish in the points in his first two Grand Prix.

Di Resta out qualified his team-mate Adrian Sutil to take eighth place on the grid for the China Grand Prix but the team’s two-stop strategy left him fighting for grip on the track and he finished just outside the points in 11th place.

He said: “Of course I would have preferred to have scored points for the third race in a row. But I knew it was always going to be quite a tough race, starting from where we were.

“We came very close to scoring points, but just missed out at the end when the tyres had gone off.

“The weekend was compromised by the loss of a whole practice session due to a fuel pressure problem on Friday.

“Having gone into the race without heavy fuel runs may have compromised us a bit. We didn’t quite get the aero balance right at the start, but the second and third stints I think were pretty good.

“Maybe a three-stop strategy would have suited us better, but only time will tell in the simulations.

“Overall I am still very happy on how the weekend went considering we qualified into Q3 and came close to scoring points once again.

“We came here with relatively strong performance and I think we have to be very thankful for that.”