Hot or Not: Di Resta ends pointless streak
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After scoring points in his first two F1 grands prix, Paul di Resta was relieved to finally add to his tally in Hungary, ending a sequence of eight races without a point.
That run has had little to do with outright pace - Di Resta leads his vastly more experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil 7-4 in qualifying - and owes more to a combination of bad luck and errors which had prevented him from finishing inside the top ten since Malaysia.
The Scotsman finally ended his streak and scored the points his pace has deserved in Hungary however, where he qualified 11th before navigating the melee of changing weather and varying strategies to bring his car home in seventh - his best ever grand prix finish.
The result was a boost to his status in the 2011 world championship, where he now sits level on points with Sergio Perez in 15th, and also in the Castrol EDGE Rankings, where he moves up three places and back into the top 40.
UP THIS WEEK
Paul di Resta (39)
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Made his long-awaited return to the points in the Hungaroring with an impressive drive through the field, as team-mate Adrian Sutil slipped the other way. With Force India looking strong recently, and with Spa-Francorchamps and Monza - traditionally happy hunting grounds for the Silverstone-based outfit - to come, the Scot may not have to wait too long before his next points haul comes along.
Jules Bianchi (64)
From a championship perspective, Hungary wasn't the greatest of weekends for Bianchi as he finished seventh and sixth in the two races - especially as he started from the front row for race two, only to spin to the back of the field. In the Rankings however Bianchi made good progress, moving up 12 places to 64th - largely due to a disastrous weekend here in 2010 where he crashed with Ho-Pin Tung in race one and was forced to miss race two as a result.
Valtteri Bottas (112)
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Bottas became the first double-winner of the 2011 GP3 season and claimed the outright championship lead in Hungary, before finishing second in race two to hammer home his advantage. The 21-year-old Finn now lies 112th, and is fighting to break back into the top 100.
Kimi Raikkonen (160)
Raikkonen's switch to rally has not always been the smoothest, with Citroen team principal Olivier Quesnal saying the former F1 world champion still has work to do. On home soil, the Finn responded with a ninth-place finish in Rally Finland, improving 22 places to 160th.
Sergei Afanasiev (216)
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Having missed Auto GP's Donington Park due to VISA woes, Afanasiev bounced back in style at Oschersleben - claiming victory and second in the two races and closing on the championship lead in the process. He moves up 98 places and onto the brink of the top 200 as a result.
DOWN THIS WEEK
Clint Bowyer (24)
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On the surface, Bowyer's 13th place finish at Indianapolis was far from a disaster as the 32-year-old bids to secure a spot in the 2011 chase. In the Rankings however it wasn't enough to prevent a fall of three places to 24th - Bowyer having finished fourth in the same event last year.
Rob Huff (49)
Huff has enjoyed a remarkable season thus far in WTCC, taking a record-equalling six wins and leading from the very first race. He was in good form again at Oschersleben, finishing second and sixth, but lost ground in the Rankings after dropping a victory and a fourth from last year's visit to Brno. He drops five places to 49th, just two ahead of his main rival in 2011, team-mate Yvan Muller.
Pastor Maldonado (148)
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Making the step from GP2 to Formula 1 can often be tough to negotiate, and while Pastor Maldonado has handled the transition well on track, it has cost him ground in the Rankings. The latest example came in Hungary, where Maldonado sacrificed his two races from GP2 last year - which included a race victory - for his 16th place finish in the 2011 grand prix. The result: he drops 15 places to 148th.
Nico Muller (276)
Muller paid the price for his fantastic weekend at the Hungaroring last season, where he took victory and sixth in the two contests, in the Rankings this weekend. On the same circuit he still finished within the top five in both races, but couldn't prevent a slide of 51 places as he dropped to 276th overall.
Johnny Cecotto Jr. (295)
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A first lap collision in race one and a lap 19 retirement in race two were all Cecotto had to show for his GP2 weekend in Hungary - while a 13th place finish last year was discarded under the Rankings rollover system. That meant a fall of 19 places for the 21-year-old, who is now in jeopardy of slipping out of the top 300.
The Castrol EDGE Rankings is based on drivers' measurable performance over the last 12 months, including everything from their grid position to fastest laps. For further information on how the Castrol Rankings scores are calculated, click here.
