Looks like he's leaving the sport, my question is whether you agree with team bosses, is he good enough to offset financial deficit? More than that, which drivers are good enough to bring little sponsorship to the table?
I can't really remember a Di Resta drive over the last couple of seasons that has really made me sit up and think "Wow, this guy should be in a top team", in the way that Hulkenburg and Perez have. He's also not immune from race-ending mistakes, so for me it's a no.
It's a tough one simply answering yes or no to that question. He is much better than the average driver, but not in the Alonso/Vettel/Hamilton league. He is generally solid but for some reason every so often goes off the boil for a few races and that's what has cost him his drive. He would be very good for a Sauber/FI/Williams type team provided they could take a driver who didn't bring funding with them. Problem is, they all do. I won't answer the poll as I can't strongly enough say yes or no.
Di Resta came in as a Mercedes protégé. That hasn't worked out so basically his F1 career has been a failure.
I also wonder if di Resta is good enough to offset his bad attitude, to which the answer for me would be no. Hulk is the obvious answer to the second question but he has still had a fairly precarious career in the sport so far, although though this is more a reflection on the financial state of most teams than anything to do with Hulk.
I take it Sutil has sponorship to get his Sauber drive, otherwise based on performance di Resta is at least a match for Sutil. Benson's article about di Resta does mention he is not well liked within the paddock, so I would agree that his attitude has probably counted against him as well.
Yeah Sutil's backed by Medion. Di Resta's problem is a combination of a few things which have already been mentioned; he isn't an outstanding talent, he doesn't bring cash and he's difficult to get along with. On pure driving talent I'd suggest he deserves to be on the grid, but there are a lot of drivers who are there or thereabouts which is why it often comes down to money. He's in a similar situation to Kobayashi and Kovalainen, but with an attitude problem to boot.
yep, that about sums it up, I'm surprised Kamui hasn't found the sponsorship tbh, I think he's fairly marketable.
He's far from the worst driver on the grid and managed to beat Sutil who has a drive but he has a major flaw, he simply isn't likeable. Fans don't like him, teams don't and most probably sponsors don't. All drivers bring in money and Paul just simply isn't the kind of person likely to get backing.
Early last season when he was racing well, I found myself willing him on but when it doesn't go well he plays the blame game on camera, time and again. It's a real turn-off to most people and sponsors are sensitive to this stuff; perception is reality.
I understand that completely, and you're right it's all about perception, but I can't figure out why people perceive the same thing as being 'straight-talking' and honest when it comes from Webber
That's because they at least have talent. di Resta hasn't ever had any stand out races, all of his good results come when others are taken out.
I didn't expect there to be such a resounding agreement... Personally, I like Sutil and thought him a good driver. In that respect, the way Di Resta seemingly outperformed him really made me sit up and take more notice of Paul. I think he's a talent, and it's a shame we're losing a better driver just because of the political bullshit that happens off the track. I rank him much higher than Perez, who I don't rate at all considering he made very little impression on Button, who must be the most mediocre of the F1 champions of modern times (which isn't to say than Jenson is bad, or unworthy, but that I simply don't see him as being a "great" in my own subjective framework). I reckon Paul would have faired much better in the McClaren had he had the opportunity. I really don't like the current situation, and I especially don't enjoy the justification of "well there's always been pay drivers to some degree"... I think it diminishes a sport that's already been horribly diminished by the various annual attempts at goalpost-changing. It's a different, more artificial sport every year, and you have lemons getting a race-seat because there Mum's and Dad's know whose gearstick to salivate on.
