Force India’s Paul di Resta qualified 10th for Spanish Grand Prix while his teammate Adrian Sutil will start the race at the 13th position, here on Sunday.
Di Resta clocked 1:22.233 to finish last in Q3 while Sutil came up with a timing of 1:22.346 in Q2.
The top-10 grid position gives the British driver a chance to earn some points for the team at Circuit de Catalunya.
Meanwhile, di Resta was forced to bring his car to a halt after the tread completely came off the left rear Pirelli tyre during the second free practice session.
An initial analysis suggested that the problem was caused by overheating of the tread rather than debris on the circuit.
Di Resta said the tyre wear will play a big role tomorrow as the Circuit is one of the hardest tracks for the tyres.
“I think we can feel pretty pleased with tenth because we achieved our target of reaching Q3. I did not quite get the maximum from Q3, because it was difficult to optimise the final sector on my out lap, but we are still in a good position for the race.
“Tyre wear will play a big role tomorrow because this place is one of the hardest tracks for the tyres. Hopefully that will work to our advantage and we can make some progress with a good strategy and not spend too much time in the pit lane. There will obviously be a lot of cars behind me with new tyres, so the race to the first corner will be crucial,” said Resta.
Sutil expressed disappointment over his Q2 performance and said a good qualifying position was important for tomorrow’s race as it would be tough to overtake others at Circuit de Catalunya.
“Q1 went well and my run on the hard tyres gave me some good information before I fitted the mediums. Then Q2 was a bit disappointing because my position on the track for the final run was not ideal. Vergne pulled out of the pits just as I was leaving and I had Hulkenberg pushing from behind. Also Webber was on a flying lap and it was difficult to find a gap.
“I think that’s the main reason why I missed out on Q3 because we had the pace to be in the top ten. I am sure my car is going to work well tomorrow, but it’s so tough to overtake here and qualifying position is very important,” he said.
