PAUL DI RESTA: RACING WAS IN MY BLOODLINE
Nine years ago, at a little past 0800hrs, I was waiting in the plush lobby of Whittlebury Hall hotel. The world’s press had gathered at nearby Silverstone for the launch of the brand-new VJM06 — the car that Paul di Resta would drive in the 2013 Formula 1 season.
Force India had been kind enough to offer up an interview opportunity with the Scotsman as he made the short distance from Whittlebury to the circuit, via the Dadford Road factory. Our discussion centred on his upcoming season. It would turn out to be his third and final year racing in Formula 1.
I’d first met di Resta in 2006 when he triumphed in the F3 Euroseries, beating his ASM team-mate Sebastian Vettel to the title. He was among a star group of up-and-coming British racers that was being supported by Mercedes boss Norbert Haug in the manufacturer’s young driver programme at that time.
Talent such as Jamie Green, Gary Paffett and Oliver Jarivs were making headway in F3 before stepping up to the DTM. Di Resta was on course for the same journey, mirroring the path his cousin Dario Franchitti had taken in the 1990s. But there was an extra-special quality in ‘PdR’ that took him one step further.
Born in West Lothian in 1986, di Resta followed in the wheel tracks of his father Louis, who was a keen Formula Ford 1600 racer. As a toddler he was soon behind the wheel of a kart and aged eight he was taking part in various series across the UK. But without the financial backing to fund every stage of a traditional single-seater route, the di Restas were grateful to Mercedes for supporting his career. The DTM beckoned, but his raw talent didn’t escape the eagle-eyed talent spotters in Formula 1.
Di Resta nearly won on his DTM debut in a year-old car (if he hadn’t have stalled in a pitstop) and led the points standings at one stage. The phone started ringing (his manager was soon to be Lewis Hamilton’s father Anthony) and those keen to give the man who beat Vettel a go included Frank Williams and former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh.
Following in the footsteps of Allan McNish, David Coulthard, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark, the Scotsman finally made
