Sir Jackie Stewart has told STV Sports Centre that Scotland can dare to dream about having a new Formula One champion in the near future. Speaking exclusively to the programme, Sir Jackie tipped Bathgate driver Paul di Resta, now a reserve driver with Force India, as a future star of the sport.
“Paul's already achieved championships in Germany, Formula Three European championships and the touring car races that he did in Germany,” said Stewart.
“I think his timing has been very good. When you come into Formula One and you are too young and too inexperienced, it can overwhelm you. In fact, you can lose your drive pretty quickly.
“I think when Paul comes in, he's had the right education, he's had the right background and the same building progress to get to the level he's currently at.”
A three times world champion in Formula One in 1969, 1971 and 1973, Stewart believes that di Resta is ready to follow in the footsteps of other great Scottish drivers who have graced the circuits.
“Scotland has been very rich in its drivers,” said Stewart. “From the early days of sports car racing, people winning Le Mans, Ron Flockhart, John Lawrence, my brother Jimmy, Ian Stewart, Bill Dobson - a whole lot of really top racing drivers.
“Then came Innes Ireland to win the first Grand Prix for a Scot, then Jim Clark was the best racing driver I ever raced against, a man of enormous skill.
“Now Paul di Resta is arriving on the scene and, although he hasn't got a full drive yet in Formula One, he is the test driver.
“He's already got a lot of experience and we know he's got a lot of talent, so I think we should expect good things from him.”
With the new season due to get underway in Bahrain on Sunday March 14, Sir Jackie believes that the comeback of 41-year-old former seven times world champion Michael Schumacher will bring a new level of interest to the popular sport.
“I think everyone is interested to see how well he'll [Schumacher] do and how long it will take him to come to the front, because that is where we are used to seeing him,” he said.
If you missed the full edition of STV Sports Centre, broadcast on Friday March 12, you can catch-up with the STV Player for seven days until March 19.
