Paul di Resta believes Force India delivered what was one of, if not the, best team performances in Bahrain on Sunday. Despite missing the entire second practice session on Friday and being passed by Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes in the closing stages of the race, the Scot still finished sixth on a two-stop strategy.
Statistically, Force India’s best race result remains Giancarlo Fisichella’s second place in Belgium three seasons ago. However, considering they missed out on 90 minutes of practice time and that an aggressive strategy paid off, the West Lothian man was delighted with Sunday’s result at Sakhir.
“Obviously we chose to play our cards differently to other people, to try and make a two-stop work,” he explains. “If it was going to work we had to put ourselves in the best position to do that. Okay, we were vulnerable at the end, but overall you’ve got to accept that you might be vulnerable at the end of the race for a few positions, especially when you’re battling with the car that won the last Grand Prix by quite a long way.”
On Friday, the team had left the circuit early to return to its hotel before nightfall; this followed an incident on Wednesday night, when four mechanics had been caught up in a Bahrain protest.
“I think, when you have a result like that, any team bond gets closer,” di Resta begins to sum up. “Given everybody’s performance we’ve tried to step it up and tried to do the best and we’ve probably outperformed any performance we’ve ever done as a team.”
In 2012, the outfit originally known as Jordan Grand Prix is targeting a top five finish in the Constructors’ Championship; it is placed eighth with 16 races remaining.
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Interview with Force India's Paul di Resta
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:35:10.990 |
| 2. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +3.333 |
| 3. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +10.194 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +38.788 |
| 5. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +55.460 |
| 6. | P. di Resta | Force India | +57.543 |
| 7. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +57.803 |
| 8. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +58.984 |
| 9. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +1:04.999 |
| 10. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +1:11.490 |
| Full results | |||
| Paul di Resta | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Paul di Resta photos | |||
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