Paul di Resta reckoned he could have been as high as third on the starting grid for the European GP but for an error in qualifying.
Force India driver reckons third on the grid was possible
Paul di Resta reckoned he could have been as high as third on the starting grid for the European Grand Prix had it not been for an error on his final flying lap in Qualifying.
Di Resta was on course for what might have been his best grid position yet in Formula 1 before locking his brakes on his hot lap in session three. Instead he lines up 10th on the grid for Sunday's race, two places behind Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
The Scot admitted the mistake constituted "a bit of a missed opportunity" given both the pace Force India have showed so far this weekend and the fact that overtaking is so difficult on the street circuit.
Certainly the former attribute was on display during session two, which ended with di Resta second fastest to Lotus's Romain Grosjean, who lines up fourth.
"We showed obviously in Q2 what we were able to do. We probably could have been quickest in there but we just struggled a little bit through Turn 5 on that one," di Resta said.
"But (on) the last lap I just tried as much as I could and unfortunately just locked the rears and then locked an inside wheel as well at Turn 17 - the lap was identical to Q2 until that point. It would have been the same probably."
Looking at what might have been, di Resta reckoned "P4 looking at it, really realistically. If we'd improved in the last sector P3 possibly. It was in there.
"If you look at all the sectors and put them together it looks quite good. But the positive side is we feel very competitive as we have done. I don't have to tell you: you can look at the sector times.
"It cost us a lot of positions but I suppose that's the difference. If we were going to make it an exceptional lap, it's all about doing it."
Di Resta is now seeking to make progress in the race and hopes the VJM05 - which has arguably surprised - continues to show good pace.
"We're moving up. Obviously we've got a lot of work to do tomorrow but there's no reason why we can't be fairly optimistic and move forward," he said.
"I've got some quick cars behind me. Certainly the Ferrari is out of position, I'm out of position....it's all open and at the end of the day I'll give it a shot.
"I need to come back out with a different head tomorrow and focus and what I've been trying to do all weekend, which is to be fast."
Di Resta could not say whether a one-stop strategy - which he used in Bahrain to finish a career-best sixth - might come into play but has faith in his long-run pace nonetheless.
"I'll be perfectly honest, I haven't really paid much attention to it. I know we've made set-up changes for the race and we've concentrated on the race. We can be fairly happy with our set-up in the race; what we can achieve is another thing. It depends where the other guys around about us are," the 26-year-old added.
"Our long runs - we were fairly happy with yesterday's. Where other people were is another thing.
"I've zero reason why to believe our long runs can't be good. We say it's a bit like Bahrain and in fact, probably even our performances have slightly improved from Bahrain. If we can keep our tyre wear under control we should be good. But overtaking is not easy here."
