Paul di Resta
Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986[1][2]) is a British racing driver from Scotland who currently drives in the FIA World Endurance Championship with United Autosports. He drove in Formula One for Force India from 2011 to 2013, and became a reserve driver for the Williams F1 team in 2016, driving a single race for them as a substitute driver in 2017. A former Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) and Formula 3 Euroseries champion, di Resta did not secure a Formula One drive for 2014, and rejoined Mercedes to race again in DTM.
Di Resta in 2014 | |||||||||||
Born | Uphall, West Lothian, Scotland | 16 April 1986||||||||||
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Formula One World Championship career | |||||||||||
Nationality | |||||||||||
Active years | 2011–2013, 2017 | ||||||||||
Teams | Force India, Williams | ||||||||||
Car number | 40 | ||||||||||
Entries | 59 (59 starts) | ||||||||||
Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
Wins | 0 | ||||||||||
Podiums | 0 | ||||||||||
Career points | 121 | ||||||||||
Pole positions | 0 | ||||||||||
Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||||||
First entry | 2011 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last entry | 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
DTM career | |||||||||||
Debut season | 2007 | ||||||||||
Current team | R-Motorsport I | ||||||||||
Car number | 3 | ||||||||||
Former teams | Persson Motorsport, HWA Team | ||||||||||
Starts | 141 | ||||||||||
Championships | 1 (2010) | ||||||||||
Wins | 11 | ||||||||||
Podiums | 37 | ||||||||||
Poles | 8 | ||||||||||
Fastest laps | 10 | ||||||||||
Finished last season | 16th (21 points) | ||||||||||
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Personal life
Di Resta was born in Uphall, Scotland, and grew up in Bathgate, West Lothian, and went to Bathgate Academy. He now lives in Monaco, and is a cousin of racing drivers Dario and Marino Franchitti.[3] His step-father was Scottish footballer Dougie McCracken.[4] His younger brother, Stefan, has raced at an amateur level.[5]
Di Resta and Laura Jordan became engaged in December 2013[6] and married on 28 August 2014.[7]
Career
Karting
He started his career in karting, racing in various competitive series of karts from 1994 until 2002. In 2001 he won the British JICA Championship.
Formula Renault
He stepped up to single-seaters at the end of 2002, when he competed in the British Formula Renault Winter Series. He raced in British Formula Renault full-time in 2003 with the Eurotek Motorsport team, finishing seventh in the standings with one race win. He switched to Manor Motorsport for 2004, finishing third in the championship standings with four wins. He also entered some races of Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with the Manor team. He also won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of The Year Award in 2004. The award had been won by his cousin Dario Franchitti in 1992.
Formula Three
Di Resta switched to the Formula Three Euroseries with Manor Motorsport in 2005, finishing tenth in the standings. For 2006 he moved to the ASM Formule 3 team, winning the championship with five wins, beating teammate and future Formula One World Drivers' Champion, Sebastian Vettel. Di Resta also won the 2006 BP Ultimate Masters at Circuit Park Zandvoort.
DTM
In 2007, di Resta switched from single-seaters to race in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) touring car racing series, for Mercedes. In the championship, he finished 5th overall behind drivers Mattias Ekstrom (who won his second DTM title), Bruno Spengler, Martin Tomczyk and Jamie Green. Di Resta was the highest driver in the standings to drive a non-2007 car. His performances earned him a 2008 Mercedes C Klasse for the 2008 season, in which he won two races and finished second in the points, four points behind eventual champion Timo Scheider of Audi. In 2009, he finished third overall behind Scheider and compatriot Gary Paffett. In 2010, he won three races in a row on the way to winning the championship.
Formula One
Di Resta tested for the McLaren Formula One team, and was in the frame for a drive with the Force India team for the 2009 season due to the teams' shared engine supplier, Mercedes-Benz. However, Force India chose to retain Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil, with Vitantonio Liuzzi as reserve driver.[8]
Force India (2010–2013)
2010
In December 2009, with Fisichella having moved to Ferrari and Liuzzi being promoted to the race team, di Resta took part in a test with the team at the Jerez circuit alongside J. R. Hildebrand.[9] At the Autosport International show in January 2010, he was said to be close to a deal as the team's test and reserve driver for the 2010 season.[10] The deal was announced on 2 February.[11] Di Resta made his Formula One race meeting début at the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, where he took part in the first free practice session in place of Sutil[12] and finished 11th.[13] He drove in the first practice session of all the following races until the Monaco Grand Prix where he did not take part. He resumed driving for the team at the European Grand Prix and the following British Grand Prix. After sitting out the German Grand Prix he returned for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Di Resta subsequently sat out the Belgian Grand Prix as Tonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil needed as much track-time as possible to get the feeling of the new parts. He participated in practice for the Italian Grand Prix, but did not participate in the Singapore or Japanese Grands Prix. The team elected that di Resta should miss the Korean Grand Prix to allow Liuzzi and Sutil to get used to the new track for the race.[14]
2011
Di Resta joined Adrian Sutil in the Force India Formula One racing team for the 2011 season, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi. He scored his first championship point at his first race, the Australian Grand Prix, after both Saubers were disqualified.[15] This was followed by another 10th place in Malaysia, 11th in China, and a retirement in Turkey, where he left the pits with a loose wheel. He was running fifth in Canada until a collision with Nick Heidfeld left him with a damaged car and a drive-through penalty, and later crashed out of the race on lap 67. He qualified sixth at Silverstone but finished 15th after a long pitstop due to a tyre mix-up.
His third points-scoring finish of the season came in Hungary, where he finished seventh in changeable conditions. In the Italian Grand Prix he finished 8th. This was followed by a career-best sixth-place finish in Singapore, ahead of teammate Sutil, who finished eighth. He finished tenth in Korea, ninth in Abu Dhabi and eighth in Brazil.
2012
On 16 December 2011, it was announced that he was to be retained by Force India for the 2012 season, with Nico Hülkenberg taking the place of Sutil as his teammate.[16] He qualified 15th for the season opener in Australia and finished 10th in the race, passing Jean-Éric Vergne and Nico Rosberg on the final lap. He qualified 14th for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and finished seventh in the wet race. He was 12th in China. In Bahrain he qualified inside the top ten, having missed the second free practice session after several members of the team were caught up in a petrol bomb incident. Using a two-stop strategy he took sixth place in the race, which equalled his previous career-best result. He was 14th in Spain, a lap behind winner Pastor Maldonado; seventh in Monaco having started 15th on the grid; and 11th in Montreal. At the European Grand Prix he was the only driver on the grid who performed a one-stop strategy and came 7th whilst his teammate, Nico Hülkenberg, finished in 5th position.
After failing to score a point in the next three races, di Resta finished tenth in Belgium. The following weekend, at the Italian Grand Prix, di Resta showed strong pace in qualifying, setting the fourth fastest time in Q3, but took a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change to start the Grand Prix in ninth. He finished the race in eighth. At the Singapore Grand Prix, he qualified sixth and finished a career-best fourth, after the retirements of Maldonado and Hamilton. The final five races of the season resulted in only one further points-scoring finish – 9th place in Abu Dhabi.
2013
On 31 January 2013, Force India confirmed di Resta would race for the team for a third consecutive season in 2013.[17] After qualifying outside the top ten in Australia, di Resta managed to battle through into the points, finishing just behind his teammate, Adrian Sutil in eighth place. In Malaysia, however di Resta retired after his car's wheel nuts kept jamming, and the team was ultimately forced to retire both cars.
Qualifying in 11th place for the Chinese Grand Prix, the race saw him finish in eighth place and he obtained four points.
Di Resta matched his career best result in Bahrain with a fourth place, being overtaken close to the end by Lotus's Romain Grosjean, depriving the Scot of a maiden podium. He followed that up with a seventh in Spain.
A disappointing qualifying session in the wet meant di Resta started from 17th in Monaco, however initially going for an aggressive two stop strategy; luck played its part and due to a red flag he was able to use a new set of tyres, and made ground to ninth-place finish with some good overtakes.
Another disappointing qualifying session at the next race in Canada saw di Resta starting in 17th position yet again. Starting on the harder medium compound tyre, di Resta was able to run the longest of all drivers on his first stint, going 56 laps before finally making his only pit stop. The strategy worked as di Resta finished the race in 7th.
After six consecutive point finishes, di Resta struggled in the later part of the season as his team Force India struggled to cope with new Pirelli tyres and he recorded five consecutive retirements.
On 12 December, it was announced that he would not be retained as a driver with Force India for the 2014 season.
Williams (2016–2017)
2016
After a two-year absence from the sport, di Resta returned to Formula One as reserve driver for Williams.[18]
2017
Williams retained di Resta as their reserve driver for 2017 whilst he competed for Mercedes in DTM.[19]
He replaced lead driver Felipe Massa for qualifying and the race at the Hungarian Grand Prix as the Brazilian recovered from an illness. This marked di Resta's first F1 start in almost four years, whilst also becoming the first British driver for Williams since Jenson Button in 2000 and Scottish driver since David Coulthard in 1995.[20] His qualifying results were described as an "unbelievable job" by Mercedes F1 Director Toto Wolff, having competed without having driven the FW40 prior to the session.[21] He ended the day in 19th place ahead of Marcus Ericsson and was 0.766s off his teammate Lance Stroll.[22] He retired in the race after 60 laps.
DTM return (2014–present)
In 2014 di Resta returned to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series driving for Mercedes.[23] Di Resta finished the season in 15th place having scored points only three times, all three being 4th-place finishes.
Broadcasting career (2016–present)
Sky Sports F1 (2016–present)
Since 2016, Di Resta has been a regular contributor to the Sky Sports F1 channel.[24] He is a common presence as one of the insiders in "Sky Race Control" during practices, qualifying sessions and races, alongside Anthony Davidson, Damon Hill, Nico Rosberg, and Johnny Herbert. As of 2018, he is also the backup analyst for races, filling in for Martin Brundle when Brundle is unavailable.
Racing record
Career summary
Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | Formula Renault UK | Eurotek Motorsport | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 233 | 7th |
Team JVA | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||
2004 | Formula Renault UK | Manor Motorsport | 20 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 415 | 3rd |
Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NC† | ||
Bahrain Superprix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | ||
2005 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Manor Motorsport | 19 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 10th |
Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4th | ||
2006 | Formula 3 Euro Series | ASM Formule 3 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 86 | 1st |
Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1st | ||
Macau Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | ||
2007 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Persson Motorsport | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 5th |
2008 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA Team | 11 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 71 | 2nd |
2009 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA Team | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 45 | 3rd |
2010 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA Team | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 71 | 1st |
Formula One | Force India F1 Team | Test driver | |||||||
2011 | Formula One | Force India F1 Team | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 13th |
2012 | Formula One | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 14th |
2013 | Formula One | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 12th |
2014 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA Team | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 15th |
2015 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | HWA AG | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 90 | 8th |
2016 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Mercedes-Benz DTM Team HWA II | 18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 116 | 5th |
Formula One | Williams Martini Racing | Reserve driver | |||||||
2017 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Mercedes-AMG Motorsport SILBERPFEIL Energy | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 99 | 11th |
Formula One | Williams Martini Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
2018 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | 20 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 233 | 3rd |
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship | United Autosports | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 27th | |
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF | ||
2018-19 | Asian Le Mans Series | United Autosports | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 80 | 1st |
2019 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | R-Motorsport I | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 16th |
European Le Mans Series | United Autosports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 19th | |
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4th | ||
2019-20 | FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 | United Autosports | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 105 | 2nd* |
† – As di Resta was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. * Season still in progress.
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series record
(key)
Yr | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Manor Motorsport | HOC 1 Ret |
HOC 2 17 |
PAU 1 14 |
PAU 2 DNS |
SPA 1 DSQ |
SPA 2 5 |
MCO 1 8 |
MCO 2 6 |
OSC 1 4 |
OSC 2 4 |
NOR 1 3 |
NOR 2 8 |
NÜR 1 23 |
NÜR 2 Ret |
ZAN 1 14 |
ZAN 2 5 |
LAU 1 Ret |
LAU 2 DSQ |
HOC 1 Ret |
HOC 2 DSQ |
10th | 32 |
2006 | ASM Formule 3 | HOC 1 3 |
HOC 2 Ret |
LAU 1 2 |
LAU 2 3 |
OSC 1 1 |
OSC 2 14 |
BRH 1 1 |
BRH 2 5 |
NOR 1 1 |
NOR 2 18 |
NÜR 1 2 |
NÜR 2 13 |
ZAN 1 1 |
ZAN 2 14 |
CAT 1 10 |
CAT 2 6 |
BUG 1 1 |
BUG 2 6 |
HOC 1 Ret |
HOC 2 6 |
1st | 86 |
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% of the race distance.
Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | United Autosports | P | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 4 |
SEB 5 |
LBH | MDO | DET | WGL 4 |
MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | 27th | 82 |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Ligier JS P217-Gibson | LMP2 | 288 | DNF | DNF | ||
2019 | Ligier JS P217-Gibson | LMP2 | 365 | 9th | 4th |
Complete European Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | United Autosports | LMP2 | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 6 |
MNZ | CAT | SIL | SPA | ALG | 19th | 8 |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019–20 | United Autosports | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | SIL Ret |
FUJ | SHA 3 |
BHR 1 |
COA 1 |
SPA 1 |
LMS |
BHR |
2nd* | 105* |
* Season still in progress.
References
- "Paul di Resta profile". BBC. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- "Paul di Resta". Formula1.com. 16 April 1986. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
- McPherson, Lynn (7 February 2010). "Racing driver takes over family's property empire". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- "Formula One rookie battles on in Turkey Grand Prix despite suspected suicide of stepfather". Daly Mail. London. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- "Di Resta to make Knockhill debut this Sunday – 8th April". knockhill.com. Knockhill Racing Circuit. 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
- "Laura Di Resta on Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- "Paul Di Resta on Twitter: "Mr & Mrs D!!!!! #LOVE". Twitter. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- English, Steven (14 December 2008). "Force India keep Fisichella and Sutil". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
- Strang, Simon (24 November 2009). "Force India to test di Resta, Hildebrand". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
- Noble, Jonathan (16 January 2010). "Di Resta close to Force India role". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
- Elizalde, Pablo (2 February 2010). "Force India signs di Resta as reserve". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- Noble, Jonathan (24 March 2010). "Di Resta ready for Formula 1 chance". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
- "Australian Grand Prix – Practice Results". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
- Elizalde, Pablo (18 October 2010). "Di Resta will not drive in Korea either". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- Elizalde, Pablo (26 January 2011). "Di Resta confirmed at Force India". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- "Hulkenberg joins Di Resta in Force India's 2012 line-up". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- "Paul di Resta". Force India. 31 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- "Paul di Resta set to be named Williams reserve driver for 2016 season". 13 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- "WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING – Williams Retains Paul Di Resta as Reserve Driver for 2017". williamsf1.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- "Sky F1's Paul di Resta replaces unwell Felipe Massa at Hungarian GP". skysports.com. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
- "Wolff hopes "unbelievable job" restarts di Resta's F1 career". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- "FORMULA 1 PIRELLI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2017 – QUALIFYING". Formula1.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- "Paul di Resta returns to the DTM with Mercedes after losing F1 drive". Autosport. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- "Paul di Resta joins Williams - and Sky Sports F1". skysports.com. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul di Resta. |
- Paul di Resta career statistics at Driver Database
- Official website
- Paul di Resta on IMDb
Sporting positions | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Lewis Hamilton |
Formula 3 Euro Series Champion 2006 |
Succeeded by Romain Grosjean |
Preceded by Lewis Hamilton |
Masters of Formula 3 Winner 2006 |
Succeeded by Nico Hülkenberg |
Preceded by Timo Scheider |
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Champion 2010 |
Succeeded by Martin Tomczyk |
Preceded by Harrison Newey Stéphane Richelmi Thomas Laurent |
Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion 2018–19 With: Phil Hanson |
Succeeded by James French Roman Rusinov Léonard Hoogenboom |
Awards | ||
Preceded by Alex Lloyd |
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award 2004 |
Succeeded by Oliver Jarvis |
Preceded by Kamui Kobayashi |
Autosport Awards Rookie of the Year 2011 |
Succeeded by Mathéo Tuscher |