Di Resta - Force India Deal Imminent

We know we've announced this plenty of times in the past, but Force India is now only a few hours away from announcing British racer Paul di Resta as their new reserve driver for the upcoming season of Formula One. According to media reports in Scotland, the announcement will be made in Glasgow during the course of today.

Di Resta is a Mercedes works driver in the DTM and has tested for Force India in December, during the rookie testing meeting at Jerez. During that particular test, he was joined by North American racer JR Hildebrand, the two competing for the reserve role within the Silverstone-based team for the 2010 season (as confirmed at the time by Force India's owner Vijay Mallya).

Di Resta impressed the audience with his strong lap times and was regarded as favorite for the job ever since. Additionally, the 23-year old Scot benefits from some strong backing from Mercedes-Benz, who currently supplies powertrains to Force India in Formula One.

Starting from 2010, the teams will be allowed to use their reserve drivers (rookie racers) to take the 2010 challengers to the track during the Friday of every grand prix weekend. Apparently, this is what Force India wants for the young Scot, before allegedly offering him a race spot in the 2011 official lineup.

“Hopefully we can build a very long and strong relationship for me to try to race with Force India," said di Resta, according to the Daily Record newspaper. The same source revealed that the team's chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer is already in Scotland, where he is to announce the move to the media in the next few hours.

Both Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi are driving on one-year extensions with Force India, meaning their deals will expire at the end of next season.