- Force India news
Di Resta committed to Force India
Paul di Resta has vowed not to get distracted by talk of him moving to a bigger team and insists he is committed to doing the best possible job for Force India.
Di Resta is entering his second year in Formula One with Force India, but his history as a Mercedes-backed driver has led to speculation that he is being groomed to replace Michael Schumacher at the German car giant. While he did not deny he has a desire to drive for one of the top-flight teams, di Resta said his initial focus was solely on Force India.
"Obviously you want to be winning races and winning world championships, and you want to be in the best position to do that," he said at the launch of the new VJM05. "It's always been a dream to be in some of those cars at the front of the grid, but right now my commitment is with Sahara Force India, that's who I have a contract with and that's who my duties as a driver have to go to."
Di Resta finished 12th in the drivers' championship in his rookie season and is hoping to build on that in 2012 alongside his new team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
"I want to do better, that's the main focus," he said. "Adrian [Sutil] had a very strong year last year. I think as a team we were very close to coming fifth in the constructors' and we met our ambitions of coming sixth. We'll just keep pushing on, as long as it's upwards that's the main focus. Hopefully me and Nico can work well together and I think the whole drive of the team is very young. There will be a competitive nature, but we'll come together over the next five week to drive ourselves forwards and put ourselves in the right position."
Like the new Ferrari and Caterham, the VJM05 features a distinctive bump in its nose to meet new regulations regarding the height of the front of the car. Di Resta said he has full confidence in the new design.
"I saw it very early, the initial, stages of it, and it has been like that right from when it went in the tunnel and they say that's the best way of driving it forwards," he added. "So I have every belief that that's the way it is because all the upgrades we're bringing towards the end of last year were what they said on the tin - they were performing on the track."