Strong fourth hands Force India vital points

23/09/2012

Mat Coch writes:

Paul di Resta was confident heading in to the Singapore Grand Prix, though a career best fourth place finish was probably beyond even his imagination.

After struggling in practice on Saturday the Scot reverted to the setup with which he'd finished on Friday, and immediately enjoyed the benefit. He progressed to the final phase of qualifying with enough confidence to burn a set of Pirelli tyres chasing grid position, setting the sixth fastest time ahead of both Mercedes (who opted to keep their powder dry) and Webber's Red Bull.

The Scot then benefited as those around him ran into trouble during the race itself. When Lewis Hamilton retired he was promoted to fifth, and when Pastor Maldonado was forced to park his Williams he found himself fourth, a position he held to the end.

For a moment it looked as though the Force India may be in with a shout of the podium, di Resta's charge running out of steam to fall some four seconds shy of championship leader Fernando Alonso at the finish.

Nonetheless, the twelve points that were di Resta's reward had added importance thanks to the fact neither Sauber nor Williams managed to score.
It sees the team cut the deficit to Sauber in the Contractors' Championship to 25 points, while stretching the gap back to Williams to 21 points.

"It certainly proves that when you can gather it all together you can get the performance," said the Scot. "This is obviously a Sunday you need to enjoy more than any of them."

However, no sooner had the chequered flag fallen than the 26-year-old was faced with questions about his future. "I'm part of this team and I enjoy being part of this team," he said. "I'm not getting carried away.

"I'd like to think I'm capable of stepping up to one of these bigger teams," he added. "I'm just trying to make the best job possible for myself; the result is what counts more than anything to me.

"When the time's right hopefully somebody will step up and give me the chance to do that because I want to be in a car that's winning races week in, week out."

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