F1: Di Resta aims to move up Korea ladder

Published on 12/10/2012 12:00

Five days after his Japanese Grand Prix was ruined by a broken clutch even before the race had started, Bathgate’s Paul di Resta is back in his Sahara Force India racer in Korea today.

And the 26-year-old is hoping to repeat his performance in Singapore three weeks ago when he finished fourth.

“I’m confident we’ll have a better weekend in Korea than we did in Japan,” said Di Resta, who finished tenth in Korea 12 months ago. “The guys have got to the bottom of the clutch issue from last weekend, and given the fact our actual race pace wasn’t too bad, we should be on it in Korea.”

The Scot arrived in Korea having spent a few days resting and training in Tokyo.

“It’s always crucial to maintain that balance of fitness and relaxing, especially during back-to-
back flyaway races,” he continued.

“Tokyo’s a great place to be, so it was great to have some down time and just chill, but we still had a 
couple of gym sessions.”

And Di Resta admits Sahara Force India faces a tough battle to close the gap on Sauber in the race for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

“It’s certainly not going to be easy, especially after (Kamui) Kobayashi finished third last weekend in 
Japan,” the Scot explained.

“The gap between us is 37 points with just five races remaining, so it’s crucial we keep scoring in every race.”

In the race for the Drivers’
World Championship, four points is all that now separates Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel after the Red Bull driver’s win in Japan.

Alonso though, who failed to score at Suzuka after he was forced to retire at the first corner with a puncture, is confident he can still 
battle for the title.

“I am sure we can be in the fight right down to the wire,” he said. “The people who are working on the car are the same who have done the job so far and there’s no reason to think they can’t do a good job again now.

“Let’s not forget that, if I am still leading the championship, it’s because we have been capable of improving the car significantly compared to the start of the season.”