Despite three days of tyre testing at the Silverstone Young Driver Test, Paul Di Resta has admitted that the new Pirelli tyres are still "the big unknown" as F1 returns to the Hungaroring.
The new tyres have the 2012 construction but 2013 performance and have been drafted in to improve the safety of the rubber after Silverstone's tyre failure-fest.
Speaking in a team statement ahead of the race, Di Resta admitted that the tyres will be the real difficulty but he can't see why Force India won't be challenging for a good result: "There's no reason why we can't be competitive. The big unknown is the new Pirelli tyres. It's a big challenge for all the teams to try and get on top of them quickly.
"It's hard to say if they will have an impact on the performance level of the teams," he said before sharing his expectations: "We will go into the weekend with the same approach and then target Q3 on Saturday and points on Sunday."
Describing the tricky Hungaroring circuit with it's slow average speed and tight track widths he said: "It's very demanding physically and mentally because you are nearly always in a corner. The layout feels more like a street track and all the corners flow into each other so you need to find the rhythm of the track and build your confidence with each lap."
He added that once the track is fully rubbered in - which takes time as it is rarely used - driving a lap feels "very satisfying." Team-mate Adrian Sutil agreed and exclaimed that qualifying is important due to the lack of overtaking opportunities.
It also marks his 100th Grand Prix in Formula 1. Speaking about the feat he said: "It's hard to believe how quickly time goes by. It's a big milestone, for sure, but int he end it doesn't really change anything. My goals remain the same as when I started my first event and that's to win race. I still love the sport and I hope I can continue to drive these amazing cars for a long time."
However Hungary hasn't produced much success in the past - he has failed to score a single point at the Hungaroring - and admits that it's difficult to judge the running order at the moment due to the tyres.
Sahara Force India Team Principal Vijay Mallya admitted that the first nine races have "exceeded expectation" from winter testing and feels the VJM06 is the "best car we have ever introduced."
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| (c) Sahara Force India F1 Team |
Speaking in a team statement ahead of the race, Di Resta admitted that the tyres will be the real difficulty but he can't see why Force India won't be challenging for a good result: "There's no reason why we can't be competitive. The big unknown is the new Pirelli tyres. It's a big challenge for all the teams to try and get on top of them quickly.
"It's hard to say if they will have an impact on the performance level of the teams," he said before sharing his expectations: "We will go into the weekend with the same approach and then target Q3 on Saturday and points on Sunday."
Describing the tricky Hungaroring circuit with it's slow average speed and tight track widths he said: "It's very demanding physically and mentally because you are nearly always in a corner. The layout feels more like a street track and all the corners flow into each other so you need to find the rhythm of the track and build your confidence with each lap."
He added that once the track is fully rubbered in - which takes time as it is rarely used - driving a lap feels "very satisfying." Team-mate Adrian Sutil agreed and exclaimed that qualifying is important due to the lack of overtaking opportunities.
It also marks his 100th Grand Prix in Formula 1. Speaking about the feat he said: "It's hard to believe how quickly time goes by. It's a big milestone, for sure, but int he end it doesn't really change anything. My goals remain the same as when I started my first event and that's to win race. I still love the sport and I hope I can continue to drive these amazing cars for a long time."
However Hungary hasn't produced much success in the past - he has failed to score a single point at the Hungaroring - and admits that it's difficult to judge the running order at the moment due to the tyres.
Sahara Force India Team Principal Vijay Mallya admitted that the first nine races have "exceeded expectation" from winter testing and feels the VJM06 is the "best car we have ever introduced."
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