F1 rookie di Resta keen to battle Vettel and Hamilton

Britons Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will face some homegrown competition in 2011 as Scottish driver Paul di Resta, who once had the beating of a young Sebastian Vettel, joins the F1 paddock as Force India's new driver.

And the 24-year-old is looking forward to reprising his rivalry with Hamilton and current F1 world champion Vettel after finally securing a place at motor-racing's top table.

Di Resta is a couple of years younger than Hamilton and followed him through the Formula Renault and into the F3 Euroseries, and was a team-mate of Vettel in 2006.

That year he beat the German to the championship and although Vettel, backed by Red Bull, went on to join the F1 circus, di Resta was without the support of a major team and ended up racing touring cars in Germany.

Now he has earned an F1 drive, and despite the fact that Force India is unlikely to challenge the likes of Hamilton, Vettel and Button for pace the young Scot is eager to rejoin battle with his old rivals, and he doesn't appear fazed by their extra experience.

"I don't want to sound big-headed, but I wasn't racing them when they won their [F1] championships," he announced this week. "We've had some great battles in the past. Hopefully I'll get a repeat of that in the future."

He said that his contemporaries on the F1 grid had enjoyed an "easier" route to the top, explaining: "They had different backing and that got them there a bit quicker. Looking at it they were luckier than I am, but I've got there."

The Scot obviously has plenty of self-belief, and in forcing his way into the Force India cockpit he proved he also has talent as well. In order to make room for him, de Resta's employers have had to pay off their former driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Not only did he have to overcome the challenge of Liuzzi, di Resta also had to prove he was a better bet than former Williams pilot Nico Hulkenberg, who started a Grand Prix from pole position last season.

F1 won't be an entirely new experience for di Resta as he was Force India's reserve driver in 2010, and practised at most of the circuits.

"Last year was a huge learning curve," he said. "But it got me into the team, the environment, and enabled me to learn all the systems you need to go through."

But if he does find himself in need of some outside help di Resta can always turn to his cousin, Dario Franchitti, the three time IndyCar champion, or his manager, Anthony Hamilton, the father of Lewis. ·