26/01/2010
NEWS STORY
Paul di Resta, cousin of Indy Car champion Dario Franchitti, looks set to take the test and reserve driver role at Force India.
The 23-year-old Scot, who has spent the last three seasons in DTM, having won the F3 Euroseries in 2006, has previously tested for the McLaren F1 team. Linked with a move to Force India in 2009 following the tie-up between the Woking team and Mercedes, di Resta failed to get the drive with the Silverstone-based outfit which eventually settled on Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi.
In the wake of Pedro de la Rosa's move to Sauber, many thought that di Resta might replace the Spaniard at Woking, however, team boss Martin Whitmarsh says this was not an option. Instead, at Force India, the Scot can take part in the Friday practice sessions a tactic that the bigger teams are unwilling to adopt.
"I believe Paul will be running in the majority of the Friday sessions for Force India, so it's a great opportunity for him," Whitmarsh told Reuters at Monday's livery launch for the Mercedes GP team. "I'm happy for him, he's going to push like hell to make his case to have a race drive at Force India during the course of this year."
Speaking of the decision which will see some teams run reserve drivers on Fridays, Whitmarsh, who last week took over as chairman of the teams' alliance (FOTA), said: "If you are trying to win a championship, to not allow your principal drivers the Friday session is not something we would contemplate. But it's something that some other teams are looking at and it's a great opportunity for Paul."
Ahead of Friday's launch of the much anticipated MP4-25, Whitmarsh said that Gary Paffett will be named as the team's official test and reserve driver, the Englishman having been with the Woking team since 2006. However, he admitted that his team is on the look out for a second test driver.
"Gary probably did 60 days in the simulator last year for us and he'll do the same sort of number and maybe a bit more this year. But he's got other commitments so we need another driver," he said. "We are seeing what's happening at the moment. There's no great panic. We are very confident in Gary, we've worked and supported him for a number of years.
"At the moment we've got two race drivers who are pretty keen and eager and are working hard at Woking but during the course of the year we will see what happens.
"I might be wrong, but one can imagine that the driver market and maybe the entrants will be slightly more volatile than they have been in recent years," he continued, clearly referring to the widespread feeling that some of the new teams entering F1 this season may find it hard to go the distance. "I sense that there will be some drivers who think they are gainfully employed at the moment who may be available in the future."