Di Resta: « No panic at Mercedes »

Paul di Resta believes that Mercedes is much closer to Audi than the qualifying results suggest. The Scotsman made too many mistakes on his best lap.

The former Formula 3 Euro Series champion was one of the three Mercedes drivers alongside Green and Spengler to achieve a time of 1’21”7, but all three are half a second behind Timo Scheider, the pole position winner for Audi.

« I didn’t drive very well. I made some mistakes, and I think that without them I could have been much faster. No panic is sweeping through the pits, » said Di Resta.

The 22-year-old driver added that he did not feel threatened when the red flag was waved during the second part of qualifying since he wasn’t even in the top 8. The rules allow all drivers from the second session to participate in the final part in such circumstances.

« It was not a problem. I was in the last sector when the red flag was deployed and it was obvious that we had the pace to sneak into the top 8. »

The qualifications were still difficult and in the end, we weren’t fast enough. The race promises to be intense.

Di Resta will start tomorrow from sixth place, where he will attempt to score his first points of the season, after a clutch problem dashed his chances last week at Hockenheim.