Di Resta is currently a works driver for Mercedes-Benz in the DTM Series and will likely continue with his duties for the German carmaker in 2010 also. However, during his spare weekends, he's likely to take on the testing role within Force India, with the confirmation to be issued by Mallya in due time.
“Paul will be running I believe in the majority of the Friday sessions (at grand prix weekends) for Force India, so it's a great opportunity for him. I'm happy for him. He's going to push like hell to make his case to have a race drive at Force India during the course of this year,” said Whitmarsh, according to Reuters news agency.
Whitmarsh continued by saying his team doesn't agree with the idea of letting rookie drivers test their 2010 challenger during the Friday practice sessions.
“If you are trying to win a championship, to not allow your principal drivers the Friday session is not something we would contemplate. But it's something that some other teams are looking at and it's a great opportunity for Paul,” added Whitmarsh.
Returning to Di Resta's and Force India's situation, it's important to see how Mallya will react to Whitmarsh's comments, as the Indian billionaire stated plenty of times in the past that Mercedes will not have a saying in his team's F1 lineup. But we guess we'll find that out, once an official announcement on the matter will be made by Force India.
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