Formula One: Sutil's hopes of joining Renault team can open doors for Di Resta

SCOT Paul di Resta's hopes of being promoted to a full Formula One race seat with Force India next year have received a significant boost after team-mate Adrian Sutil admitted he is keen to join Renault for 2011.

German racer Sutil currently partners Tonio Liuzzi in the two Force India race cars and, while test and reserve driver Di Resta had been expected to replace the Italian for next season, the Scot's hopes of being on the grid for 2011 are looking even stronger.

"Force India is certainly a great team to be part of, and, of course, I'd love to be driving one of their cars next year, so fingers crossed," said the 24-year-old from Bathgate.

Di Resta, who will again drive the Force India F1 car in this Friday's 90-minute practice session at Hockenheim ahead of the weekend's German Grand Prix, is known to be constantly impressing the team bosses.

On his last outing ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Mercedes-backed Scot was only 0.852sec off the pace set by current racer Liuzzi despite Di Resta having only limited time in the car so far this year.

Renault is known to be keen to sign a faster, more reliable team-mate to partner Robert Kubica for 2011. While the Pole has shone this year, his Russian team-mate Vitaly Petrov has struggled.