Force India, Di Resta: “Wasted opportunity in qualifying”

Paul di Resta believes he wasted an opportunity in qualifying for the Formula 1 European GP in Valencia, despite managing to get back into the top 10.

“It will take a couple of hours to reflect on it, it was a wasted opportunity. On the last lap, I tried to give it my all but unfortunately the rear wheels locked up at turn 17. The lap was identical to Q2 up to that point” explained the Scotsman.

The time in Q2 would have guaranteed him sixth position on the grid: “Looking at the times I think fourth position was possible. With an improvement in the third sector perhaps even third position. The positive side is that we have proven to be very competitive. That lap cost us a lot of positions but the difference between an exceptional lap and the one I did."

It went better for Nico Hulkenberg, eighth with the other Force India: “I think it's a great result for the team to have both cars in Q3, but perhaps we were hoping for something more than eighth and tenth position, especially looking at our I'll stop by this weekend. I don't think the increase in temperatures helped us because the car was more difficult to drive today and a bit nervous at times. For the race we are still close to the top and we will fight with the cars in front of us to try to collect some points."