• Force India news

Di Resta calls for strong start

Paul di Resta's 2012 season ended with a spectacular crash in Brazil © Press Association

Enlarge

Related Links

• Drivers:
• Paul di Resta

• Teams:
• Racing Point

Paul di Resta has called on Force India to deliver a competitive car from the first race of the new season.

In recent years Force India has launched a relatively conservative, reliable car and shown impressive development to become more competitive later in the season. While that was the case in 2012, di Resta struggled with a chassis problem and after a fourth place in Singapore he scored just two points in the remaining six races, crashing out of the final grand prix in Brazil.

Di Resta told Sporting Life he had nothing to prove to the team at the start of the new season, but that he wanted to start with a strong car so that good result were immediately achievable.

"You have to finish the season at some point, and that was the way it was for me," di Resta said. "Ahead of the new season, I wouldn't now say I have to prove myself to anyone. People know what I can do, and when I can do it.

"But getting the results back are key, and equally starting the season out of the blocks, which is something I've not been able to experience because of the way the car has performed. So I've been working hard over the winter with the guys to get the best car possible, and I'm definitely confident we will be able to have a year like we did last year up until Singapore."

With Force India having recruited more personnel over the winter, di Resta is optimistic of a strong season but says the team must do a better job during pre-season testing.

"Having been in the factory, done the seat fit, been in the wind tunnel - essentially it would have been nice to seen the car - but that is all coming together and I'm looking forward. The stability in the team is good, the resource and structure has not changed too much, but there are some new faces who have come in to bring some new departments up which has strengthened us.

"The design team has remained stable, which is a good thing because the car is essentially an evolution of the one we had last year. It's not a whole new rule change, a whole new philosophy, it's just about plugging away, and at the moment things are looking good. We just need to keep the pressure on and keep plugging away for Australia because we launched a superb car last year but fell away towards the end of the tests."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.