{"id":77807,"date":"2025-05-06T00:43:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T00:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/77807\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T00:43:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T00:43:23","slug":"i-lived-my-f1-dream-but-the-sport-wasnt-awash-with-cash-like-it-is-now-says-paul-di-resta-sometimes-teams-couldnt-even-pay-for-hotels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/77807\/","title":{"rendered":"I lived my F1 dream but the sport wasn’t awash with cash like it is now, says PAUL DI RESTA… Sometimes teams couldn’t even pay for hotels!"},"content":{"rendered":"

To live out your dream is the ultimate goal. Even for the few who achieve it, however, the dream sometimes doesn\u2019t last long enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul Di Resta knows this first hand. The Scot took the conventional racing route through karting, stepping up through Formula Renault, Formula Three, and DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) with Mercedes.<\/p>\n

Then came the breakthrough as he found a place within the McLaren testing team and, ultimately, Force India<\/a> at Formula One level in 2010. Di Resta seemingly had everything he could have asked for.<\/p>\n

He took part in testing for that first season, then signed a deal to become a main driver in 2011, securing points in his debut race at the Australian Grand Prix and picking up points in several more races that season. Life was good.<\/p>\n

After two more consistent if not spectacular seasons, including a fourth-placed finish in Bahrain, Di Resta received the news that Force India would not be retaining him for the 2014 season.<\/p>\n

The dream had come to an abrupt end.<\/p>\n

\"Paul <\/p>\n

Paul Di Resta rose through the ranks of motorsport and raced in F1 between 2010-2013<\/p>\n

\"These <\/p>\n

These days Di Resta spends his weekends racing in the FIA’s World Endurance Championship<\/p>\n

\"Di <\/p>\n

Di Resta rates the World Endurance Championship circuit as the next best thing to Formula One<\/p>\n

\"Di <\/p>\n

Di Resta raced 59 times in Formula One with a best finish of fourth, which he managed twice<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s all about opportunity, says a now 39-year-old Di Resta. \u2018It depends if you can get there. There came a point where I became too old, people didn\u2019t really look at you. You don\u2019t want age to be a thing, but it is.<\/p>\n

\u2018With F1, you have to be right time, right place. There was a lot of difficulty at the time when I finished, going through the financial crisis, F1 wasn\u2019t in the shape it\u2019s in at the moment with sponsorship and budgets overflowing.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was there when it was absolutely critical that people supported it. There were times at some Grands Prix when some teams couldn\u2019t pay for hotels and whatever.<\/p>\n

\u2018So I probably hit it at the wrong time in that sense, that\u2019s what stopped the journey. There\u2019s the age thing, too, just getting a break. There\u2019s other people who didn\u2019t make it to Formula One who should have got there, and I keep saying that.<\/p>\n

\u2018I fulfilled that dream but at some point you have to move on and there\u2019s a life outside of that.\u2019<\/p>\n

When one door closes, another opens.<\/p>\n

After returning to the DTM circuit and working for Sky Sports\u2019 F1 coverage for several years, Di Resta found his way into endurance racing, first at the Le Mans 24-hour race with United Autosports before settling in the FIA\u2019s World Endurance Championship from 2019 with Peugeot. He\u2019s been \u2018part of the furniture\u2019 there ever since.<\/p>\n

With victory in the 2020 LMP2, as well as consistent results over the course of his first season, Di Resta was ready to write the next chapter in his career.<\/p>\n

\"Di <\/p>\n

Di Resta crashes into the back of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus at the Italian Grand Prix in 2013<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Scot insists he loved every minute of F1 but financially it was unrecognisable to now<\/p>\n

\u2018Endurance racing, I believe, is the next best thing (after Formula One),\u2019 says Di Resta.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was the best thing in terms of my family structure. I have kids, so staying Europe based, because I had options in the US to do Indy Car, there was an element of safety there, too. So this is next thing to Formula One that people look at.<\/p>\n

\u2018Obviously, I\u2019d never focused on endurance racing, what with the F1 stuff. The DTM times, it was all individual, it was all about sprint racing.<\/p>\n

\u2018It just came up in a conversation with (United Autosports co-owner) Zak Brown at Spa. We met each other in the paddock in August 2017, he asked if I\u2019d be interested in doing Daytona 24. So we said let\u2019s get it on, let\u2019s speak about it.<\/p>\n

\u2018From there, I joined United, went there and did that. Throughout that year, I did races with them, combined that a bit with DTM. It was nice to do a dual programme. At that point it was a bit more accepted. When I was you]nger, it wasn\u2019t really accepted that you could be with one manufacturer and branch off to another manufacturer and do two championships.<\/p>\n

\u2018I had firm Mercedes-Benz roots. They didn\u2019t have any endurance racing so naturally you couldn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

\u2018With doing LMP2, which wasn\u2019t manufacturer-tied, that\u2019s how this started. Then, when that came to an end, hypercar started to get momentum behind it. So I signed here late 2020, and I\u2019ve been part of the furniture since.\u2019<\/p>\n

Now into his sixth year with Peugeot, Di Resta is back driving at the top level in this type of racing.<\/p>\n

\"Di <\/p>\n

Di Resta spent time as a pundit for Sky Sports after his top-level racing days came to an end<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A young Di Resta on the podium with Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton in Formula 3 in 2005<\/p>\n

\"Di <\/p>\n

Di Resta spent the majority of his time in F1 with Force India, with one race for Williams in 2017<\/p>\n

Successive ninth-placed finishes in Qatar and then Imola have given the Scot and his team the best start to the season they could have hoped for. Even if the man from Uphall in West Lothian believes the race is deserving of a more prestigious track.<\/p>\n

\u2018The hypercar is the top class, the biggest thing you want to race in,\u2019 he says. \u2018Fortunately, I managed to get in. I was at a decent age. I\u2019d had friends who had been part of the Peugeot programme back in the 908 days, which were hugely successful, so I knew they were serious about racing.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think a French brand coming in to capitalise on Le Mans, which is the biggest goal of the season, that was part of what drove me to be here.<\/p>\n

\u2018You\u2019d like to finish off the journey. At the moment, the success hasn\u2019t been where we\u2019d like it to be for the effort that\u2019s gone in. But there\u2019s still time and dedication from every individual here.<\/p>\n

\u2018Honestly, ninth in Qatar is the reality of where we\u2019re at. I don\u2019t think we\u2019re better than that. Our competition has built a better, faster car and you\u2019ve got to applaud them.<\/p>\n

\u2018I honestly think the championship is way above this track (Imola). I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a place we should be coming \u2014 it\u2019s too small. There\u2019s bigger and better tracks out there on the calendar.<\/p>\n

\u2018Of course, you can come here and enjoy the pasta, the pizza. But is it a world championship event for the likes of this? I don\u2019t think so. There are bolder, bigger tracks; Silverstone, Monza.\u2019<\/p>\n

With racing blood in his veins, as a cousin of superstar drivers Dario and Marino Franchitti, Di Resta was always destined to find his way into the sport.<\/p>\n

\"Di <\/p>\n

Di Resta walks the grid with fellow Scot David Coulthard, himself an esteemed former F1 driver<\/p>\n

\"Di <\/p>\n

Di Resta’s cousin Dario Franchitti is an Indycar legend and three-time Indy 500 champion<\/p>\n

As he lives out a new dream, he admits he could not have reached the heights he has achieved without the help, dedication and perseverance of his family.<\/p>\n

\u2018Growing up in a motorsport family, it was just the norm,\u2019 he admits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018I was surrounded by it, but I wasn\u2019t asked the question if I wanted to do it, it was more when could I start?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Very quickly the sense was there that you could drive your way forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Watching what Dario had done, you could see how you could get to the top. The ambition was always strong.<\/p>\n

\u2018I had a good family network around me. The family kind of make the journey more than anyone in sport for kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I think it\u2019s easily forgotten that it\u2019s a kid, but it\u2019s the dedication of the family who put the time in, the sacrifice, that pays off.<\/p>\n

\u2018You feel sorry for those that put that sacrifice in and don\u2019t achieve it. I always say that the dream has to become the family\u2019s before it can be the individual\u2019s.\u2019<\/p>\n

In the case of Paul Di Resta, the dream continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To live out your dream is the ultimate goal. Even for the few who achieve it, however, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[92,4199,707,4200,19584,93,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-77807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula1","12":"tag-formulaone","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114458119805237218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}