Paul di Resta sees no reason why he shouldn't be in Q3 for Bahrain Grand Prix

An air of cautious optimism surrounded Paul di Resta on Friday evening after opening practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix saw the Force India driver nestling comfortably in the top ten.

Force India have, on the whole, made a positive start to the season. But serving as a further boost to di Resta's confidence this weekend is his performance in Bahrain last year. Leading a grand prix for the first time in his career, di Resta eventually finished sixth after bucking the trend and running a two-stop strategy. The frontrunners are once again expected to make three stops on Sunday, with di Resta hinting that he might do the same this time. "We had a good race here last year - it was a surprise last year where we finished - we did a very good race in terms of strategy," he added. "The car is stronger this year in terms of speed. If we can pull something off with strategy then obviously that would be a massive boost. But I think, given the speed where we are, we wouldn't be quite as aggressive as we were. "We will sit down tonight. We've got various engineers in the office punching keys in their computers and coming up with the best options. "Given the feedback, it's then about them putting it together and trying to predict as much as they can."