Analysis

Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer

Paul Di Resta's failure to find a Formula 1 drive in 2014 appears on one level to be harsh - he is certainly a better prospect than several of the men who will be on the grid next season.

The Scot has proved to be a decently quick and pretty reliable performer in his three seasons in F1, and has produced a handful of impressive drives.

But team bosses feel he lacks star quality and has failed to prove he has the potential to go on to be a world champion.

Times are hard in F1 at the moment for many teams, a majority of which are struggling to complete their budgets.

One example of this was Lotus being forced to take Pastor Maldonado and his mega-bucks Venezuelan sponsorship package rather than their preferred option Nico Hulkenberg.

In that environment, outside the 'big four' of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren, a driver has to have something extra special to make it worth taking the cash hit of employing him if he does not bring financial backing.

And there has been little evidence that Di Resta is another Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso, even though he beat Vettel to the European Formula Three title when they were team-mates in 2006.

Nor has he helped himself. His image among F1 insiders is not positive, a result of some of his critical outbursts against his team on the radio, and other stories about his attitude that have done the rounds.

Friends tell of a jovial, amusing character who is fun to be around in private. But Di Resta has chosen not to show that side of himself to the world, a decision that must now be viewed as a mistake.