Paul Di Resta has called on Force India to pull out all the stops in a bid to land him his elusive first podium finish.
Di Resta finished 2.2 seconds off a place in the top three in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, losing out to Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, who cleared the Scot with five laps remaining.
It was tough luck on Di Resta as, for the majority of the grand prix, he appeared on course to step onto the podium for the first time in his 43-race Formula One career.
Although convinced it “will come soon enough”, the 26-year-old knows the bulk of the effort has to come from within the Silverstone-based marque.
“Give me a faster car and we’ll get a podium,” Di Resta said.
“If the team wants it they’re probably going to have to work for it harder than we are at the moment.
“If they do that in the design office, and get a bit more resource in there, then there is no reason why we can’t do it, although as a team we’re performing to our maximum capacity.
“It’s just about getting that little bit more to make it comfortable in the races, and to provide you a position in qualifying every week that gives you the base to do that.”
Naturally, Force India are unable to compete on a financial footing with Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Lotus.
But this year’s car appears a step above anything the team has so far previously produced, so finding those resources Di Resta mentions is not going to be easy.
“We’re punching above our weight at the moment,” Di Resta added.
“We’re a midfield team. You can’t say we’re the same as McLaren.
“I’ve been part of this team now and it’s grown, but it takes years and years to be comfortable. I would say it will take a few years. But at the moment, if we can get this car in its operating window, it’s strong.
“I know they will be doing what they can in that engineering office week in and week out.
“We’ve some new bits coming for Barcelona that are quite exciting, and if they work it could turn things around. But not all the teams are sleeping, so I’m not going to get myself carried away.”