Better than di Resta

The young Scot has settled into F1 magnificently

So the new season is underway. Vettel is still near-impossible to beat, Schumacher is still struggling, Hispania are still baffling people by continuing to live, and Eddie Jordan is still spouting absolute drivel each race. Some things in F1 don't change.

But luckily, there's always a plethora of new drivers to talk about and rather unfairly judge at this early stage of the season. I say plethora - I mean four. Four new drivers to discuss - Paul di Resta, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado. Still, that's enough opportunity to be cruelly downbeat on the careers of a few young lads, isn't it?

Well actually, it is very difficult to make calls at such an early stage, especially when certain cars haven't been performing. The jury is still out on Maldonado and D'Ambrosio, due to the woeful Williams and Virgin cars not giving either of them a chance to shine. Perez on the other hand has benefitted from a decent Sauber. He's looked a good counterpart for the exciting Kobayashi, mostly thanks to his excellent (but discounted) fifth place finish in Australia courtesy of some magical tyre management. It'd seem apparent that he has a future in Formula One, but perhaps one not as bright as Paul di Resta's.

There's already an odd sense of familiarity about Paul di Resta's presence in Formula One. While British attention is highly focussed on the world-champion pairing of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton at the front of the grid, we've all also been aware of young di Resta starting his career in a very solid fashion. He's scored points in two out of his three races, and finished ahead of his team-mate Adrian Sutil in two out of his three races.

And yet there's no surprise or great hype about the ability di Resta has shown so far. I think perhaps we were expecting him to do well, having been introduced to him quite thoroughly during BBC's coverage over the last season, but when we take a step back to consider how he's done, it's quite a remarkable beginning for him.

The best way to illustrate just how well di Resta has done is by comparison. Adrian Sutil, for example, is undoubtedly a very competent driver who now has a fair wealth of experience under his belt. Over the last few years he's driven a less-than-impressive Force India to its absolute limit, with one particular highlight being his extraordinary drive at Monaco in 2008 which saw him up to fourth, before Kimi Raikkonen ploughed into the back of the blameless German forcing him to retire. Last season, Sutil practically carried the Force India team to 7th place in the Constructors Championship, scoring 47 points along the way. In short, he's no mug.

And yet di Resta has settled into the car spectacularly to beat him on two occasions. That is by no means an achievement that should be overlooked - few drivers are confident enough to finish ahead of their far more experienced team-mate within the first set of races, and those that do inevitably blossom into a talent worthy of great things.

Not only this, Paul di Resta comes across as a well-rounded, confident young man. This is essential for him, because the Force India car is not good enough to give him the opportunity of points-finishes every race. He needs to be strong in order to make the best of what he gets, which is where Jenson Button went wrong during those two turgid years for Honda, and where Lewis Hamilton struggled when the car wasn't up to scratch in 2009. Going through that learning-curve could one day mould him into an effective challenger for a title - somebody who would be skilled in the craft of damage limitation.

It's quite ambitious to talk about di Resta as a prospective Championship challenger, but the early potential he's shown is promising. Champions like Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel all begun their careers by making the best of bad cars, grinding out results where they could. Paul is doing just that at the moment, and whilst it's too early to make a call on just how far his career could take him, these early signs are nothing but encouraging.

Already there are rumours that di Resta could replace Schumacher at Mercedes if Schumi retires. Clearly the insiders of F1 also see that the young Scot is somebody who can go places in the sport. Here's hoping that the millennium's third British champion is already on the grid.