Further thoughts on the Singapore Grand Prix

Di Resta's difficulty
F1, in more ways than one, is all about timing.

The timing screens - that all in F1 are enslaved to - we know about. But it applies more broadly too, to getting your big break. For all of the effort and analysis that go into the decisions of who drives where, we've seen that strong performances and results at exactly the right moment can sway who gets the opportunities.

Things have been difficult for Paul di Resta just lately
Photo: Octane Photography

Paul di Resta makes no secret of his desire for a team step-up, and those squads further up the grid you feel could do a lot worse (indeed, some are doing a lot worse) than throw him the keys. But just like last year, and the year before, di Resta's showing signs of letting things slip at the vital moment - at the point when contracts for the next year are being signed.

Since entering F1 from the unlikely route of DTM di Resta has been impressive. He divides opinion of course, partly due to his rather stern facade out of the car, as well as his habit of criticising his team in public (though even with this, I find the hostility he gets in certain quarters - if my Twitter timeline is any barometer - frankly ridiculous). But behind the wheel consistently di Resta has displayed a Button-like smoothness and polish, with a tendency to avoid errors and bring the car home that have belied his relative inexperience. In his freshman year no one completed more racing laps than he. And he doesn't lack speed either, shown especially when for the first two-thirds of 2012 there was almost nothing to choose between di Resta and the highly-rated Nico Hulkenberg in their direct intra-Force India face-off. However, di Resta then endured a difficult end to 2012, wherein he went oddly off the boil in the last six races - which many seemed determined to take from that match-up and extrapolate it over the whole campaign, perhaps showing the power of recency - and his F1 career got close to choppy waters. But this year he steered things back on course, benefitting from a surprisingly competitive Force India, scoring points in seven of the first eight rounds and firmly getting the better of new/old stable mate Adrian Sutil. For a while the lack of examples of his aggression and battling wheel-to-wheel was a gap on di Resta's F1 CV, yet his spirited dice with Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone was a revelation in this (and those who'd tracked di Resta pre-F1 knew that he lacked little here).

But then... after Silverstone the tyres changed of course, and there seems little doubt that the change has impeded the Force India more than most. And since for di Resta there have been no points. Worse, particularly for someone previously noteworthy for staying out of scrapes, di Resta has crashed out of each of the last two rounds with what looked like his own errors. In Monza di Resta had the mitigation of a weekend set back significantly by a brake failure-induced crash in Saturday practice. While the Singapore one was curious: di Resta couldn't work out what the error was and the team telemetry didn't offer anything obvious either in terms of carrying too much speed or of getting it wrong with the brakes (perhaps he got unlucky on a bump). But in each the end result was the same, and sadly F1 doesn't always pay heed to such nuance.

Di Resta - missing the opportunities?
Photo: Octane Photography

It's a pity too: as Singapore looked to be the race that he finally bounced back in. After starting seventeenth di Resta somehow got to lap 20 on the set of supersofts that he started with, on a day that most swapped between laps 11 and 15 (even Vettel only made it to lap 17). And he was still quick, holding off Alonso for many laps and hardly being caught by Webber. This vaulted di Resta right into the mix, and while the safety car didn't really favour him he stayed in the fight until his late excursion spoiled it all. The Force India team reckon di Resta would have finished sixth had he made it to the end.

For di Resta there is the awful sense that history is repeating: of those teams above Force India in the pecking order Hulkenberg and others seem ahead in the race for a Lotus gig, the other line ups are done or look nearly done. Just like 12 months ago the sought after seats seem to be evaporating all around him rather rapidly. And most broadly there is the risk - as plenty of drivers past could tell you - that the longer you linger in the midfield, the harder it is to escape it.