Di Resta not ruling out 2009 F1 drive

Sunday 4th January 2009

Paul di Resta is refusing to give up on his hopes of landing a Formula One race seat in 2009.

The Scottish prot�g� tested for McLaren last year and his chances of getting a drive appeared to increase when Force India decided to team up with McLaren.

However, Force India decided to stick with Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella for the upcoming season.

Di Resta, though, insists he hasn't given up hope of making the starting grid for the opening race of the 2009 season.

"I know there's been a lot of speculation recently regarding where I'm going to be racing next year, and to be honest there's still a bit of talking to be done before I'll be able to confirm with you exactly what I'm going to be doing," he said on his personal website.

"One thing which is important is Formula 1 remains a possibility.

"I'm certainly not giving up on my dream of being on the grand prix grid for the opening race of 2009, but if it doesn't happen this year I'm confident it will happen soon afterwards."

Di Resta, who finished second in the Drivers' Championship in the German-based DTM touring car series in 2008, says he is more than happy with his stint as McLaren test driver last year.

"I've had a stunning 2008 and it's important my development continues through next year," he added.

"Driving the McLaren-Mercedes in the two test sessions was a fantastic experience.

"But it was also a chance for me to show the guys at McLaren and Mercedes exactly what I'm capable of doing.

"I've said before that I came away from those tests more than satisfied with what I had achieved and boosted by the feedback I got from the test team and the technicians.

"I felt very comfortable in the Formula 1 environment and that's definitely where I want to be."

Your Comments

ilAlfisto

"Yeah right, and I'm "not giving up on my dream" of bedding Salma Hayek. But McLaren obviously doesn't much care who's in the second seat, so who knows?"

silverarrow

"Di Resta should do a year in GP 2 first then he should be a test driver to get some experiance as for you rbson why don't you start coaching Webber your compatriot"