Di Resta relishes Spa test

Four weeks after recording the best-ever finish of his rookie Formula One season with a seventh in Hungary, Bathgate’s Paul di Resta returns to action this weekend in Belgium.

The 25-year-old will tackle the famously daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the first time in his Force India F1 racer, and the Scot admits he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“I know the whole weekend will be demanding because Spa is one of the toughest, and longest circuits on the calendar,” Di Resta explained.

“It’s not like any of these new, modern, recently-built circuits which are essentially flat. Spa, as everyone knows, rides the contours of the hillside it’s set into and the biggest challenge is coping with learning you use those contours to their maximum.

“You definitely need a different philosophy to drive at Spa, but it’s certainly a driver’s circuit.”