Formula 1: Paul di Resta says drive is on to keep team improving

Paul di Resta is confident of building on a positive start to the Formula 1 season as he continues to enhance his reputation.

From the opening six grands prix of the year Di Resta has already collected 21 points, in contrast to his 2011 debut campaign with Force India when he amassed 27 overall. Despite his results, the Silverstone-based marque’s car is not as strong as in the second half of last year.

Clever strategy, however, has propelled Di Resta into the top ten, notably finishing sixth in Bahrain in April and seventh in Monaco 11 days ago and Malaysia in March.

With his confidence building with experience, ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Di Resta said: “The teams around us are all strong, but we’ve shown that we are consistent and can take on teams like Lotus, Williams and Sauber.

“In terms of points scored, we are well ahead of where we were this time last year, so we can take a lot of positives from that. I believe we can keep picking up points and be even stronger in the second half of the year.”

The Monaco GP was particularly pleasing as Di Resta started 14th, four places behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, yet finished ahead of the German come the conclusion of the 78 laps.

Di Resta, linked to Ferrari and Mercedes for next year, added: “It was another weekend where we maximised things as a team. Considering the issues I had in qualifying, I felt much happier with the balance during the race and we made the strategy work. It was a tough race, managing the tyres and keeping concentration, but as a team we can be very happy with what we achieved.”

Co-owner Vijay Mallya is particularly pleased with how Force India have fared but he feels more needs to be done if the team are to overhaul nearest rivals Williams and Sauber. In particular, Mallya believes the team need to get to grips with the Pirelli tyres.

Mallya said: “I’m very pleased with the way things went in Monaco with both cars in the points. It was our second double points finish of the season, with the result taking us much closer to our nearest competitors, Sauber and Williams.

“We have our eyes focused on closing the gap and I believe we have the pace to get on terms with them in the points race soon. We’re working hard to understand the tyres better to make sure we get the best out of them. If we can find the sweet spot I hope we can enjoy our own special results in the races to come.”