Force India test driver Paul di Resta reckons his team can fight for points in this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, having driven the car in this morning's first practice session in place of race driver Tonio Liuzzi. Di Resta's team-mate Adrian Sutil finished 11th this morning as the team looks to return to the points following a disastrous weekend in Germany a few days' ago.

Speaking to Manipe F1 after his morning's running, di Resta said the aim was to get into Q3 tomorrow afternoon. “We're definitely looking to be in the top ten in qualifying, so into Q3, and I think that's a good aim,” said Paul.

“We're moving along with developments and certainly looking on it's looking positive. This weekend could be relatively tough, but I think we still have a strong car and can pick up some points.”

Based on previous races this year that are similar in characteristics to the Hungaroring, Force India should be on for a good result. In Monaco, a comparable track to Budapest given the never-ending sequence of corners, both Sutil and Liuzzi finished inside the points, while in Montreal, at a track requiring good mechanical grip and traction, they also showed promising form.

Nevertheless, Paul is wary that developments other teams are bringing here could make life difficult for the Silverstone-based squad. “It's difficult to judge [our pace] at his point in the weekend,” continued di Resta. “This is a track quite similar to Monaco, Montreal where you need quite a lot of mechanical grip and we got two great results, so in that sense, yes [we will do well].

“In other senses you could say it's going to be a bit more tricky but it's really difficult to predict what people have brought here at this point in the weekend, because you don't know what upgrades the other teams have brought.”

Paul expects to be back in the car for Friday practice at the forthcoming Belgian Grand Prix in three weeks' time after the summer break.