Paul di Resta towards the exit?
The current driver for the Indian team, Paul di Resta, discusses his future in the British newspaper Mirror, where he indicated he no longer believes in a future with Force India.
According to an interview given to the Mirror, leaving Force India is now a certainty for Paul di Resta. Despite a season marked by a fourth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix, the best performance by an Indian car this season, and a twelfth place overall in the drivers’ standings, the future with Vijay Mallya’s team seems compromised: “They [Force India] talk to me every two or three days,” said Di Resta. “They might be interested in keeping me, but they can’t. I believe they are in talks with Sergio Perez.”
In all likelihood, the Mexican driver, released by McLaren, is expected to be Nico Hülkenberg’s teammate for the 2014 Formula 1 season. Force India could then be a team to watch, with two determined drivers in its ranks who couldn’t access or remain in top teams.
Various exit strategies for Di Resta
Despite a complicated situation for the British driver, Force India’s management is trying to place him at Sauber, according to the Mirror. Currently, the Swiss team has not yet officially named its drivers for the 2014 season, with candidates including Esteban Gutierrez, Adrian Sutil, Sergey Sirotkin, and therefore Paul Di Resta. Even Vitaly Petrov, supported notably by Gazprom, the Russian gas company, could secure a seat with the Hinwil team, backed by a $30 million package, as revealed by Auto Motor und Sport.
On Adrian Sutil’s side, negotiations with Pérez could be crucial for his future: the German driver also has sponsors supporting him—Medion in particular—and provides a significant contribution for financially struggling teams. His situation would therefore balance between Force India in case of the Mexican’s absence—though announced by Martin Whitmarsh—and, more likely, Sauber, should Pérez join. As for Sergey Sirotkin, although he was at one point considered for a full-time position as early as 2014, his situation now seems more likely to make him a test driver.
If Paul di Resta does not manage to stay in Formula 1, the possibility of a return to DTM has been mentioned: « I am in discussions with Mercedes-Benz, » stated the Scot, who could return to his first love and a discipline in which he was crowned in 2010. The IndyCar option, to succeed the young retiree Dario Franchitti at Chip Ganassi, is still on the table but seems to have cooled.
