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Since Vettel is a firm figure in F1, where does that leave Di Resta? Will he make it into F1 in the future? Does he have what it takes? Is he right that Europeans and Middle Eastern have it easier to enter F1? How many Middle Easterners are in F1, if any?

its always been the same..

It's a problem for him that Merc only have one team in F1. Also the record of DTM drivers moving to F1 is all bad isn't it? As far as I can think, Jan Magnussen and Gary Paffet. Anyone else?

I think Giancarlo Fisichella.

Christijan Albers, now that was all bad indeed

Yes you're right. And yes Maximus, Albers was a front-runner in DTM

No chance.

Paul doesn't live in Europe?

He should have been given a chance with F1 in testing at least, though.

Presumably having won F3 Euroseries in 06 he really needed to do GP2 in 07. Anyone know why he didn't?

Albers was flattered in one season of DTM with an extremely strong Mercedes and no decent teammates, only an underperforming Schneider. The following year when Albers was the de-facto number 1 at Mercedes he was blown away by Paffett who had been given an up to date car.

He's British, so no sponsorship............................

Perhaps. Or perhaps Albers was just good in DTM and sucked in F1. There aren't always explanations why someone shines in one series and suck in another series. Albers was really good in F3 also, but sucked in Formula 3000.

If only he'd been born Malian.

p.s. I thought Albers first year in F1 was pretty good.

Didn't Juan Pablo-Montoya have a DTM race. As did Michael Schumacher...

So did I. And the Dutchman did not perfrom that bad during 2006. But then, having not been noticed by any stronger teams, he started to make silly mistakes. It's always hard to motivate oneself, having spent 2 years in the worst cars...

With some drivers - like Albers - it's a bit like the Peter Principle. Which states: 'Everybody keeps being promoted untill they reach a level that they can't controll.' Albers first tests in F1 were awfull. Really, really slow. Then he raised his game. And raised his game. Then he couldn't grow anymore, and his highest level was not high enough. Bad luck, good try.

But it can also be different. Everybody assumes that Hamilton was THAT good in his first year, he can only grow and grow. But I am not completely sure. Hamilton has tested so much, both in real life as in the sim, that perhaps he quite close to his maximum potential. Only time can tell.

Paul Di Resta really deserved a chance to keep goin' up in single-seater series like GP2 and eventually F1 but he's just on ef several other talented drivers with no sponsorship, but not just that, without 'political/economical' importance for F1. In business terms, F1 doesn't need another British driver. Something similar happens with Swedish drivers (Wirdheim, Danielsson...) or Argentine drivers (López, Álvarez). Sweden has no importance for the F1 business. The same about Argentina (I can remember right now two Argentine drivers who were dropped not casually in favor of Brazilian ones: Fontana was very close to a deal with Tyrrell in 1998 ´til that Rossett appeared, and López was dropped only a few weeks before his contract ended from Renault (at least they could have told him before so he can look for other opportunities with time) and replaced by Piquet in 2007)

Generally I agree, though I would argue that Lopez was dropped by Renault more because of the repair bill they were footing in GP2 than for reasons of nationality.

Di Resta just didn't have cash to go to GP2.

How much importance does Finland have?

Very little, but relative to British drivers, there are only a few really great Finnish drivers that make it through the pipeline. In open wheel, there's currently what, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Mustonen and Maki from F1 to F3? Now count the British drivers. It makes a difference in acquiring sponsorship.

Formula 3 Euro Series 2006
View: Teams| Stats | Cars | Birthdates
1 Paul Di Resta 20 races. 5 wins. 5 pole positions. 9 podiums. 1 fastest lap. 86
2 Sebastian Vettel 20 races. 4 wins. 1 pole positions. 9 podiums. 5 fastest laps. 75
3 Kohei Hirate 20 races. 1 win. 0 pole positions. 5 podiums. 2 fastest laps. 61
4 Esteban Guerrieri 19 races. 2 wins. 2 pole positions. 6 podiums. 2 fastest laps. 58
5 Richard Antinucci 19 races. 2 wins. 0 pole positions. 5 podiums. 0 fastest laps. 38
6 Giedo van der Garde 20 races. 1 win. 2 pole positions. 4 podiums. 0 fastest laps. 37
7 Kazuki Nakajima 20 races. 1 win. 0 pole positions. 4 podiums. 3 fastest laps. 36
8 Kamui Kobayashi 19 races. 0 wins. 0 pole positions. 3 podiums. 1 fastest lap. 34
9 Guillaume Moreau 20 races. 0 wins. 0 pole positions. 2 podiums. 0 fastest laps. 32
Jonathan Summerton 20 races. 1 win. 0 pole positions. 3 podiums. 0 fastest laps. 32
11 Sébastien Buemi 20 races. 1 win. 0 pole positions. 3 podiums. 6 fastest laps. 31
Charlie Kimball 20 races. 1 win. 0 pole positions. 3 podiums. 0 fastest laps. 31
13 Romain Grosjean 20 races. 0 wins. 0 pole positions. 1 podium. 0 fastest laps. 19