Di Resta becomes F1’s new ‘Flying Scotsman’

For the past two seasons, Formula 1 has had just two British drivers, both English and both very successful. Now a third is about to turn the illustrious duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and while he may be less well-known, Paul di Resta has the potential to join them on the list of F1 race winners.

It is a long overdue chance for the 24 year old from West Lothian, as he has had a longer journey than his compatriots to make to the highest level, but it has been packed with success. He comes from an Italian expatriate motor racing family – his father was previously involved in motorsport for many years, while his cousins are the Franchitti brothers, triple IndyCar champion Dario and sportscar driver Marino. He first leapt to prominence when he won the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for young drivers in 2004, which gave him a prize test with the F1 team and helped him graduate to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2005.

2006 was the most crucial of his career. Being his second year in F3, with a seat with dominant team ASM, it was sink-or-swim time – he had to do well and make his mark. And he did just that by winning the championship, beating team mate and future world champion Sebastian Vettel by 11 points. Considering what the young German has achieved since, that can only be seen as a very impressive performance. He also won the non-championship F3 Masters, a prestigious event previously won by David Coulthard and Lewis Hamilton.

And yet while Vettel would soon be catapulted into F1, making his F1 debut at the US GP at Indianapolis and later impressing for Toro Rosso at the end of the season, his former rival was out of single-seaters altogether. Due to a lack of finance, di Resta was forced into a detour into the DTM, the German series for high-powered touring cars. But even there, his talent was evident – he became the first driver to put a two year old car on the podium, something that was unheard of at the time, and quickly graduated to the current model cars. After finishing in the top 3 in 2008 and 2009, he clinched the title in 2010, ahead of another Brit, McLaren test driver Gary Paffett.

But he has maintained contact with the F1 world since his prize test for McLaren in 2007. They were so impressed that they gave him a further test in 2008, and this then led to another impressive test for their technical partners Force India in December 2009. The Silverstone-based team quickly signed him up to be their test and reserve driver for 2010. His early F1 practice performances were been promising, taking little time to get up to speed. It was deemed enough of a success for him to graduate to a full time race seat in 2011 in place of Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Scotland has a great history in motorsport. Previous ‘Flying Scotsmen’ include Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and David Coulthard, three of Britain’s most successful F1 drivers. After a brief Scot-free period since DC’s retirement in 2008, di Resta now inherits that mantle, as well as the hopes of a nation. He has shown he has considerable potential with his successes in a variety of types of car. Now he has to go and deliver, to prove he can become the third British force at the highest level.