‘Ferrari should consider di Resta’

Sir Jackie Stewart has urged Ferrari to look at Scotland’s Paul di Resta as a replacement for Felipe Massa as he would be a “very good target”…

Sir Jackie Stewart has urged Ferrari to look at Paul di Resta as a replacement for Felipe Massa as he would be a “very good target.”

Di Resta entered Formula One last season with Force India and has made steady progress, culminating in a sixth-place finish last time out in Bahrain, a repeat of his career-best achieved in Singapore last year.

The 26-year-old’s solid results, coupled with his long-time DTM relationship with Mercedes, have led to rumours that he could be off to the German manufacturer’s F1 team next season.

However, triple World Champion Stewart reckons Ferrari would do well to snap up the Scot, who could learn a great deal from Fernando Alonso.

“Paul di Resta would be a very good target for Ferrari because Alonso probably has the best toolkit of knowledge and physically is one the best drivers in the world,” said Stewart.

“Alonso is almost at his peak and to have a young driver such as di Resta be an understudy to Alonso is something I’d consider if I was at Ferrari.”

Pressed as to whether di Resta has what it takes to win a Formula One World title, Stewart said: “It’s difficult to know.

“He has got an enormous amount of talent. I hope Scotland doesn’t ask too much too soon from him.

“You’ve got to be with a top-class team in order to win, you can’t do that with a second-rate team.

“Force India are trying hard to be a first-rate team but they’re not there yet.

“Paul has been leading that team to better results. I think he’s got every chance.

“We’ve got a great history of drivers, for a small country we are punching above our weight and Paul di Resta is the present generation of that.”