Di Resta surprised at vacant Force India seat

London: Sahara Force India driver Paul di Resta is surprised that the team is yet to name his teammate for the 2013 Formula One season beginning in March.

Force India are lone team which has not officially announced either of their drivers for the upcoming season. Caterham meanwhile have not named a partner for Charles Pic. Di Resta is expected to retain his seat. "I don`t think it is a great position to be in at nearly middle of January and not know who it is," di Resta was quoted as saying by Autosport. "But the team have said that they will announce it when they are ready so I have to respect that." Di Resta, who had his seat-fitting at the team`s factory in Silverstone Friday, is hoping to get a competitive teammate who is ready to work with him for the team`s benefit. "As long as the team-mate is fast, and has respect for me and is a team player, that is all I can ask for." "It is when you get somebody who only has their own ambitions in mind... nowadays in F1 you need to work as a unit and you can see it gets a bit political, and that is how the sport is driven." Force India impressed in the latter part of 2012 to end seventh in the constructors` championship. Their season`s high points were fourth place finishes in Belgium and Singapore. Asked about achieving the elusive podium next year, di Resta said: "Vijay (Mallya) and the team are focused on achieving that. Our competitors Williams and Sauber achieved that (podium) last year and we nearly did it, and the main thing is that we should focus on consistency. "When we do get the chance to finish on the podium, we should understand why and repeat it the next week - that is the main thing," the Scot added. IANS