F1 door open for Di Restaposted in F130 | 11 | 2010
FORCE INDIA has left the door open for Bathgate's Paul di Resta to be confirmed as one of its Formula One racers for 2011. The Silverstone-based team failed to name its driver line-up in the official entry list released today by Formula 1's ruling body, the FIA.
The 24-year-old Scot, who impressed as test and reserve driver with Force India thoughout this season, is hotly expected to be confirmed as one of the team's racers for 2011.
While Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Sauber and Lotus all confirmed their driver line-ups, uncertainty remains as to who will partner Robert Kubica at Renault and Rubens Barrichello at Williams. Toro Rosso, Virgin and Hispania also did not list any drivers.
Current Force India driver Adrian Sutil is known to have spoken with both Renault and Williams, while team-mate Tonio Liuzzi is known to have been under pressure from Di Resta.
The Scot, who won the DTM Championship with Mercedes at the weekend, further boosted his credentials after it was confirmed he had ended the season as the highest-ranked DTM driver in the Castrol Rankings, the official league table of the world's best drivers.
Di Resta's success elevated him to 44th in the Castrol Rankings while Bruno Spengler, who led the DTM Championship heading to China, plummeted to 54th after finishing a lowly 13th on Sunday. Gary Paffett, second in the championship, is 57th.
Behind Di Resta are a number of current F1 drivers, including Williams' Nico Hulkenberg (50th), Renault's Vital Petrov (51st) and Italian Liuzzi (58th).
Formula One world champ Sebastian Vettel, the German Di Resta beat to the 2006 Euro Formula 3 Championship, leads the rankings ahead of Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and seven-time world rally champ Sebastien Loeb.
Former F1 world champs Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton complete the top five, while Di Resta's cousin, double Indy500 winner and triple IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti, is ninth and top Scot.
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Jim McGill