Di Resta impressesposted in F119 | 11 | 2010

BATHGATE'S PAUL di Resta got his first Pirelli tyre test off to a positive start when he posted the seventh-fastest time at the 3.7-mile Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi; and he finished 1.244secs faster than his team-mate, regular racer Adrian Sutil. The German, whose car suffered from a problem with its exhaust, was 10th-quickest of the 13 runners.

"Today wasn't about setting times," Di Resta explained. "We were both running different programmes to evaluate the new Pirelli tyres, so people shouldn't read too much into the time difference. They also have to realise Adrian's car developed a problem with its exhaust.

"What's important though is we both ran solid programmes and we were able to gather a lot of information on the new tyres. I'm back in the car again tomorrow, so hopefully we'll manage to continue the good work."

Di Resta's fastest lap of 1min 41.615secs also placed him ahead of the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Ferrari's Felipe Massa topped the timesheets, 0.330s ahead of the Red Bull of newly-crowned world champ Sebastian Vettel.

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Jim McGill