Motorsport: Di Resta takes stock after manic year that brought sweet success

Newly-crowned DTM champ Paul di Resta will spend the night in his own bed in Bathgate this evening for only the sixth time in three months as he finally gets a chance to draw breath at the end of a hectic season.

The 24-year-old always knew 2010 was going to be a pivotal year in his blossoming career. Juggling his responsibilities as test and reserve driver for Formula One team Force India, and leading Mercedes' challenge in the DTM, Di Resta has rarely found time to rest this season.

"Yeah, it's been pretty manic, but I guess that's how I always felt the season was going to be," said Di Resta, who flew back to Scotland today after clinching his maiden DTM crown after he finished second behind Mercedes team-mate Gary Paffett in the season finale in Shanghai at the weekend, admitted.

"Eleven DTM race weekend, plus 19 Formula One grands prix weekends, is a lot of travelling, let alone driving, so I have hardly been at home, especially through the second half of the season.

"Even now I haven't stopped. I've a number of engagements I still need to carry out for the teams, plus there's a number of award dinners I have to attend, so it'll be a wee while yet before we can think about having a holiday." Whether Di Resta will find himself lying on a beach relaxing somewhere over Christmas knowing, officially, that he's a Formula One race driver for 2011, not even he knows.

There is no denying the talented young Scot has more than proved he is capable of mixing it with the best at the highest level of motorsport.

But the world of F1 is a cocktail of political shenanigans, and one where the majority of young drivers pay millions of pounds for their grand prix seat.

Di Resta though is one of the - perhaps the - most sought after young racers on the planet. When, not if, he enters F1, he will not be paying for his drive.

His is a rare talent, and one highlighted by his ability to jump straight from an F1 car into his DTM Mercedes in what is acknowledged as the most competitive saloon car championship in the world. Di Resta, though, plays down his versatility.

"It's what I do; I drive and race cars," he smiled. "I love it, and it's all I want to do, race well; race and win."

And winning is something Di Resta, cousin of double Indy500 winner and triple IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti, has long been used to.

A list of karting titles was followed by wins in the British Formula renault Championship. His soaring talent was further acknowledged when he won the coveted McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award in 2004 before he headed into Europe and the European Formula 3 Championship.

After a bedding-in season in 2005, when he was up against eventual 2008 F1 world champ Lewis Hamilton, Di Resta stormed to the EuroF3 title 12 months later. In doing so he claimed the scalp of his ASM team-mate, Sebastian Vettel.

And just to rub salt into Vettel's wound, Di Resta also claimed the ultra-competitive BP Ultimate F3 Masters at Zandvoort in Holland. But while Vettel, bankrolled by

German financiers, leapt straight to F1 - and ultimately the world championship this year - Di Resta entered DTM as part of the Mercedes Young Driver Development Programme.

Mercedes has backed him, and the Scot has repaid that support by finishing second and third in the championship before dominating this year with three back-to-back wins and four second places in the 11 rounds. Force India, of course, is powered by Mercedes engines and it's clear major players, such as Merc motorsport boss Norbert Haug would love to see their protg racing in F1 next season.

Life though, as we all know, is never simple or clear cut.

Current Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Antonio Liuzzi both have contracts for 2011. Italian Liuzzi has endured an erratic 2010, while Sutil has been solid and dependable. Of the 68 points the team scored in the constructors' championship, the German scored 47; and Force India missed out on sixth place by just one point.

No one questions - as his times and, perhaps even more importantly, his technical feedback from the Friday F1 practice sessions have proved - Di Resta has the ability and temperament to succeed in Formula One.

It is now only a matter of time before he locks horns yet again with messrs Hamilton and Vettel and sets about ticking the next box on his 'to do' list; win the Formula One World Championship.