Formula 1

Di Resta Feeling Competitive After Friday Running At Yeongam

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Paul Di Resta feels Force India are in a good position despite only finishing Friday Practice in thirteenth place. The Briton hit traffic on his super-soft tyre run but thought his pace during the race simulation was positive and is looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

“It’s always difficult to judge too much from a Friday, but we got through our various programmes and got the data we needed for short and long runs. The long run pace looks quite competitive, but I don’t think my short run pace was representative because both my runs were compromised by traffic and I didn’t get a clean lap. I think we’ve got a reasonable idea of where we are, but there’s a lot of work to be done between now and final practice.”

Teammate Nico Hulkenberg did get a clearer run on the option tyres, going ninth fastest, and is hopeful of reaching Q3 for the second race in succession.

“I’m feeling pretty happy with today. I didn’t drive here last year so I spent the first few laps getting to grips with the circuit again and finding my rhythm. We did our programme, completed all the tests and have all the tyre data to look at tonight. Balance-wise I’m feeling pretty comfortable in the car so we’re in a good position and ready for tomorrow.”

Jules Bianchi drove in place of Hulkenberg in the morning and like Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, ranked Yeongam among the toughest circuits to get used to.

“I got my first experience of the track today so the first few laps were not easy as I tried to get familiar with the track as quickly as possible. Before I came here I watched a lot of videos of the circuit, but it still takes a while to get up to speed. I enjoyed the session and the track is really nice to drive. It’s an interesting lap because there is a bit of everything: big stops, long straights, quick corners and slow sections. The car felt pretty good today and I tuned the set-up a bit more with each run.”

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