Paul di Resta facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul di Resta
di Resta in 2014
Born	(1986-04-16) 16 April 1986 (age 38) Uphall, West Lothian, Scotland
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Debut season	2018
Current team	Peugeot Sport
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car no.	94
Former teams	United Autosports
Starts	26
Championships	0
Wins	5
Podiums	8
Poles	4
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	2nd in 2019-20
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2018—
Teams	United Autosports
Best finish	5th (2020)
Class wins	1 (2020)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	2011–2013, 2017
Teams	Force India, Williams
Car number	40
Entries	59 (59 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	121
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2011 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	2017 Hungarian Grand Prix
DTM career
Debut season	2007
Current team	R-Motorsport I
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car no.	3
Former teams	Persson Motorsport, HWA Team
Starts	141
Championships	1 (2010)
Wins	11
Podiums	37
Poles	8
Fastest laps	10
Finished last season	16th (21 points)
Championship titles
2010 2006	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Formula 3 Euro Series

Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986) is a British racing driver from Scotland, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot Sport in their LMH entry. He drove in Formula One for Force India from 2011 to 2013, and became a reserve driver for the Williams F1 team in 2016, driving a single race for them as a substitute driver in 2017. A former Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) and Formula 3 Euro Series champion, di Resta did not secure a Formula One seat for 2014, instead rejoining Mercedes to race again in DTM. He later became a reserve F1 driver for McLaren for the 2022 season, and a former commentator for Sky Sports' coverage of F1.

Early life

Di Resta is of Italian descent and was born in Uphall, Scotland, and grew up in Bathgate, West Lothian. He is a former pupil of Bathgate Academy and supports Celtic Football Club. He now lives in Monaco, and is a cousin of racing drivers Dario and Marino Franchitti. His step-father was Scottish footballer Dougie McCracken. His younger brother, Stefan, has raced at an amateur level and his half-brother, Jon, is a goalkeeper for the Norwich City u23's.

Di Resta and Laura Jordan became engaged in December 2013 and married on 28 August 2014.

Career

Karting

He started his career in karting, racing in various competitive series of karts from 1994 until 2002. In 2001 he won the British JICA Championship.

Formula Renault

He stepped up to single-seaters at the end of 2002, when he competed in the British Formula Renault Winter Series. He raced in British Formula Renault full-time in 2003 with the Eurotek Motorsport team, finishing seventh in the standings with one race win. He switched to Manor Motorsport for 2004, finishing third in the championship standings with four wins. He also entered some races of Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with the Manor team. He also won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of The Year Award in 2004. The award had been won by his cousin Dario Franchitti in 1992.

Formula Three

Di Resta switched to the Formula Three Euroseries with Manor Motorsport in 2005, finishing tenth in the standings. For 2006 he moved to the ASM Formule 3 team, winning the championship with five wins, beating teammate and future Formula One World Drivers' Champion, Sebastian Vettel. Di Resta also won the 2006 BP Ultimate Masters at Circuit Park Zandvoort.

DTM

Di Resta finished runner-up in the 2008 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season.

In 2007, di Resta switched from single-seaters to race in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) touring car racing series, for Mercedes. In the championship, he finished 5th overall behind drivers Mattias Ekström (who won his second DTM title), Bruno Spengler, Martin Tomczyk and Jamie Green. Di Resta was the highest driver in the standings to drive a non-2007 car. His performances earned him a 2008 Mercedes C Klasse for the 2008 season, in which he won two races and finished second in the points, four points behind eventual champion Timo Scheider of Audi. In 2009, he finished third overall behind Scheider and compatriot Gary Paffett. In 2010, he won three races in a row on the way to winning the championship.

Formula One

Di Resta during practice at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Di Resta tested for the McLaren Formula One team, and was in the frame for a drive with the Force India team for the 2009 season due to the teams' shared engine supplier, Mercedes-Benz. However, Force India chose to retain Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil, with Vitantonio Liuzzi as reserve driver.

Force India (2010–2013)

2010

In December 2009, with Fisichella having moved to Ferrari and Liuzzi being promoted to the race team, di Resta took part in a test with the team at the Jerez circuit alongside J. R. Hildebrand. At the Autosport International show in January 2010, he was said to be close to a deal as the team's test and reserve driver for the 2010 season. The deal was announced on 2 February. Di Resta made his Formula One race meeting début at the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, where he took part in the first free practice session in place of Sutil and finished 11th. He drove in the first practice session of all the following races until the Monaco Grand Prix where he did not take part. He resumed driving for the team at the European Grand Prix and the following British Grand Prix. After sitting out the German Grand Prix he returned for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Di Resta subsequently sat out the Belgian Grand Prix as Tonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil needed as much track-time as possible to get the feeling of the new parts. He participated in practice for the Italian Grand Prix, but did not participate in the Singapore or Japanese Grands Prix. The team elected that di Resta should miss the Korean Grand Prix to allow Liuzzi and Sutil to get used to the new track for the race.

2011

Di Resta at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix

Di Resta joined Adrian Sutil in the Force India Formula One racing team for the 2011 season, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi. He scored his first championship point at his first race, the Australian Grand Prix, after both Saubers were disqualified. This was followed by another 10th place in Malaysia, 11th in China, and a retirement in Turkey, where he left the pits with a loose wheel. He was running fifth in Canada until a collision with Nick Heidfeld left him with a damaged car and a drive-through penalty, and later crashed out of the race on lap 67. He qualified sixth at Silverstone but finished 15th after a long pitstop due to a tyre mix-up.

His third points-scoring finish of the season came in Hungary, where he finished seventh in changeable conditions. In the Italian Grand Prix he finished 8th. This was followed by a career-best sixth-place finish in Singapore, ahead of teammate Sutil, who finished eighth. He finished tenth in Korea, ninth in Abu Dhabi and eighth in Brazil.

2012

Di Resta driving for Force India at the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix.

On 16 December 2011, it was announced that he was to be retained by Force India for the 2012 season, with Nico Hülkenberg taking the place of Sutil as his teammate. He qualified 15th for the season opener in Australia and finished 10th in the race, passing Jean-Éric Vergne and Nico Rosberg on the final lap. He qualified 14th for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and finished seventh in the wet race. He was 12th in China. In Bahrain he qualified inside the top ten, having missed the second free practice session after several members of the team were caught up in a petrol bomb incident. Using a two-stop strategy he took sixth place in the race, which equalled his previous career-best result. He was 14th in Spain, a lap behind winner Pastor Maldonado; seventh in Monaco having started 15th on the grid; and 11th in Montreal. At the European Grand Prix he was the only driver on the grid who performed a one-stop strategy and came 7th whilst his teammate, Nico Hülkenberg, finished in 5th position.

Di Resta at the 2012 US Grand Prix

After failing to score a point in the next three races, di Resta finished tenth in Belgium. The following weekend, at the Italian Grand Prix, di Resta showed strong pace in qualifying, setting the fourth fastest time in Q3, but took a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change to start the Grand Prix in ninth. He finished the race in eighth. At the Singapore Grand Prix, he qualified sixth and finished a career-best fourth, after the retirements of Maldonado and Hamilton. The final five races of the season resulted in only one further points-scoring finish – 9th place in Abu Dhabi.

2013

Di Resta at the 2013 British Grand Prix

On 31 January 2013, Force India confirmed di Resta would race for the team for a third consecutive season in 2013. After qualifying outside the top ten in Australia, di Resta managed to battle through into the points, finishing just behind his teammate, Adrian Sutil in eighth place. In Malaysia, however di Resta retired after his car's wheel nuts kept jamming, and the team was ultimately forced to retire both cars.

Qualifying in 11th place for the Chinese Grand Prix, the race saw him finish in eighth place and he obtained four points.

Di Resta matched his career best result in Bahrain with a fourth place, being overtaken close to the end by Lotus's Romain Grosjean, depriving the Scot of a maiden podium. He followed that up with a seventh in Spain.

A disappointing qualifying session in the wet meant di Resta started from 17th in Monaco, however initially going for an aggressive two stop strategy; luck played its part and due to a red flag he was able to use a new set of tyres, and made ground to ninth-place finish with some good overtakes.

Another disappointing qualifying session at the next race in Canada saw di Resta starting in 17th position yet again. Starting on the harder medium compound tyre, di Resta was able to run the longest of all drivers on his first stint, going 56 laps before finally making his only pit stop. The strategy worked as di Resta finished the race in 7th.

After six consecutive point finishes, di Resta struggled in the later part of the season as his team Force India struggled to cope with new Pirelli tyres and he recorded five consecutive retirements.

On 12 December, it was announced that he would not be retained as a driver with Force India for the 2014 season.

Williams (2016–2017)

2016

After a two-year absence from the sport, di Resta returned to Formula One as reserve driver for Williams.

2017

Williams retained di Resta as their reserve driver for 2017 whilst he competed for Mercedes in DTM.

He replaced lead driver Felipe Massa for qualifying and the race at the Hungarian Grand Prix as the Brazilian recovered from an illness. This marked di Resta's first F1 start in almost four years, whilst also becoming the first British driver for Williams since Jenson Button in 2000 and Scottish driver since David Coulthard in 1995. His qualifying results were described as an "unbelievable job" by Mercedes F1 Director Toto Wolff, having competed without having driven the FW40 prior to the session. He ended the day in 19th place ahead of Marcus Ericsson and was 0.766s off his teammate Lance Stroll. He retired in the race after 60 laps.

McLaren (2020–22)

After another absence from Formula One, di Resta returned to the sport as a reserve driver after McLaren put him on standby for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom.

McLaren retained di Resta as a stand-in reserve driver for the 2021 and 2022 seasons while he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

DTM return (2014–2019)

di Resta at the Hockenheimring in 2014

In May 2014, di Resta returned to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series driving for HWA Team, who manage the AMG Mercedes team in DTM. Di Resta finished the 2014 season in 15th place having scored points only three times, all three being 4th-place finishes.

Di Resta finished the 2018 season in 3rd place in the driver's championship, after winning three races at Hungaroring, Brands Hatch, and Misano.

In 2019, after five seasons driving for Mercedes, di Resta joined the Swiss motor racing team R-Motorsport, driving the Aston Martin Vantage DTM. Di Resta finished in 16th place having scored points only four times.

Endurance Racing (2019-present)

Di Resta was part of the winning LMP2 class during the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans

In 2018, Paul di Resta raced in the Asian Le Mans Series for United Autosports, scoring one win and 4 podiums alongside Phil Hanson and eventually winning the 2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series championship.

Following their Asian Le Mans Series win, Di Resta and United Autosport competed in the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship going onto to win the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque in the LMP2 Class and finishing 5th overall.

On February 8, 2021, Peugeot Sport revealed di Resta will drive their LMH Hypercar entry in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship alongside Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Éric Vergne. He, and the Peugeot team, competed in the last three races of the season with a P4 finish in the 6 Hours of Fuji and two retirements in the 6 Hours of Monza and the 8 Hours of Bahrain. In the end, Di Resta finished in P10 in the Driver's championship.

Broadcasting career (2016–2023)

Sky Sports F1 (2016–2023)

Since 2016, Di Resta has been a regular contributor to the Sky Sports F1 channel. He was a common presence as a co-commentator, analyst and one of the insiders in "Sky Race Control" during practices, qualifying sessions and races, alongside Jenson Button, Karun Chandhok, Anthony Davidson, Damon Hill, Nico Rosberg, and Johnny Herbert until being axed by Sky Sports in Jan 2023 along with Johnny Herbert.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

^†– As di Resta was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 UK record

(key)

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series record

(key)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% of the race distance.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

^* Season still in progress.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Car was initially a Pro-Am entry, therefore was ineligible for points. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

† Not eligible for points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2018	United Autosports	Phil Hanson Filipe Albuquerque	Ligier JS P217-Gibson	LMP2	288	DNF	DNF
2019	United Autosports	Phil Hanson Filipe Albuquerque	Ligier JS P217-Gibson	LMP2	365	9th	4th
2020	United Autosports	Phil Hanson Filipe Albuquerque	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	370	5th	1st
2021	United Autosports	Alex Lynn Wayne Boyd	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	361	9th	4th
2023	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Mikkel Jensen Jean-Éric Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	Hypercar	330	8th	8th
2024	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Loïc Duval Stoffel Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8	Hypercar	309	11th	11th

See also

In Spanish: Paul Di Resta para niños