Paul Di Resta has expressed his frustration at being forced to play the team game for Silverstone-based Force India in today’s Australian Grand Prix.
Di Resta had to settle for eighth place around Melbourne’s Albert Park in the season-opening race, just three seconds behind team-mate Adrian Sutil.
With Di Resta qualifying ninth and Sutil 12th, the Northants team operated different strategies for the duo which culminated in the Scot reeling in the German over the closing laps.
But rather than being allowed to pass Sutil, Di Resta was ordered to hold station and avoid the possibility of a collision.
Speaking to Press Association Sport, Di Resta said: “At the end of the grand prix seventh place should have been mine.
“It’s a disappointment. As I say, I should have been seventh, but you look at the whole picture from a team point of view and we came away with seventh and eighth place.”
Di Resta appreciates that but for being held up by McLaren’s Jenson Button at one stage in the race he probably would have had a clear shot at Sutil to claim seventh.
“We were compromised by three stoppers, mainly Jenson holding me up and holding Mark (Webber) up,” added Di Resta.
“Essentially that’s where I got stuck and where I lost all my track time, otherwise I would have been further up the road.
“But I was eighth, which is good points. It is obviously a good start to the season.
“There are a lot of positives to take from the race, but still things to fix for the next one in Malaysia next Sunday.
“That’s a good thing given the positions we finished in, and the car already looks good on this year’s tyres compared to last year.”