Paul Di Resta has defended under-fire Pirelli in the wake of the flak heaped upon the tyre manufacturer following the Spanish Grand Prix.
Even Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery conceded the rubber used at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya was “too aggressive” as 79 pit stops unfolded during the course of the chaotic race.
Hembery, though, defended Pirelli’s overall philosophy, insisting they were doing nothing more than had been asked of them in turning grands prix into entertainment rather than processions.
Di Resta, best of the Brits for the second successive race with a positive seventh place for Force India, feels Pirelli has offered the chasing pack an opportunity to fight with the regular frontrunners.
“It’s different. At the end of the day it’s unpredictable for all of us,” said the Scot.
“Would you want it to be one stop, back to the Bridgestone days three years ago?
“There obviously has to be a compromise, but overall it benefits the midfield teams. The people who qualify at the front just want to drive away and not have any hassle.
“But you want to be able to get the midfield teams up there and be able to do something different. We tune our car to be a bit lighter on tyres, to make it better in the race because ultimately we know we’re not going to qualify on pole.
“So I’m happy, and I think the midfield teams are good with it.”
Di Resta also believes the overly-high degradation of the Pirelli tyres which resulted in so many trips to the pits was a one-off for this season.
“Don’t judge it too much on that race. It is probably the hardest track on tyres,” added Di Resta. We saw that in winter testing. We knew it was going to be hard, and essentially we came here with a tyre that was not going to deal with it.
“We never expected it to be there, so I think when we go to other tracks it will be OK.”
In finishing ahead of Jenson Button, eighth in his McLaren, and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who dropped to a miserable 12th after starting from second, Di Resta enjoyed leading the Brit pack.
Di Resta said: “It does mean something to be the leading British driver.
“Coming into the weekend seventh was as much as we could have hoped for, being realistic about it. We got seventh out of it, although it probably should have been sixth had the DRS (drag reduction) been working.”