Paul Di Resta Completes Force India Shakedown

Scot Paul Di Resta has completed a shakedown of the new Mercedes powered Force India VJM05, completing a number of laps at Silverstone shortly after unveiling their new car to the media.

With temperatures at Silverstone barely over freezing, members of the media waited patiently for the first glimpse of the new Force India, before Paul Di Resta climbed inside and put the first laps down of the 2012 testing season in a new car.

Today only Paul Di Resta will get behind the wheel, before official testing begins next Tuesday at Jerez where both Di Resta and F1 returnee Nico Hulkenberg will be able to get behind the wheel, along with the rest of the 2012 grid. 

Five new cars are set to be unveiled in the coming days leading up to the start of pre-season testing, including Reigning World Champions Red Bull on Monday. Lotus are set to unveil their car on Sunday with returning World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen set to lead the team when testing gets underway two days later.

Force India have set their sights on 5th place in the Constructors’ World Championship for this season, with hopes they’ll be able to battle with Lotus and Mercedes in 2012.