F1: Di Resta misses out on points after yet more bad luck

The 25-year-old Scot, who was forced to start from 17th on the grid at Spa after his Force India team made a mess of his qualifying session, was the innocent victim of a first-corner collision. Di Resta’s race was then further wrecked by the appearance of the Safety Car following Lewis Hamilton’s high-speed crash.

Di Resta, who eventually finished 11th, just 6.379secs behind the Williams of Pastor Maldonado in tenth, explained. “I’d just confirmed I was coming into the pits when Lewis crashed and the Safety car was deployed. My team-mate Adrian Sutil pitted before me which meant I had to stay out for another lap and, when I pitted from fifth, because of the concertina effect behind the Safety Car, I rejoined in 13th.”

Di Resta had made his traditional quick start and, having made up places, he ducked down the inside of Turn One immediately behind the McLaren of 13th-placed Jenson Button. But, as Di Resta positioned his Force India, the Virgin of Timo Glock came careering down the inside and the impact damaged the sidepod and rear suspension of his Force India, before propelling him into the rear of Button’s McLaren.

The race was won by world champion Sebastian Vettel, who led home a Red Bull 1-2 ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber. Vettel now leads Webber by 92 points in the championship.