Belgian GP: Paul Di Resta rues crash misfortune

Paul Di Resta was disappointed after a crash forced him to retire from the Belgian Grand Prix and extend his pointless sequence to three races.

The Force India driver was down in 14th place when Williams' Pastor Maldonado went into the back of him on lap 27.

The Britain came close to a remarkable pole position on Saturday but in the end suffered another frustrating weekend.

"The incident was quite silly and took the rear corner of the car," he said.

"Pastor went in deep and missed the apex so I tried to get the cut-back and was going around the outside of him.

"He then decided to try and enter the pit lane, which was impossible given his track position. As a result he hit me, which took the rear corner off my car."

Di Resta started in fifth place but has now set his sights on improved luck in Italy in two weeks' time.

"It's a real shame because the speed was quite strong today," he said. "Maybe a point or two was up for grabs, but we have to go to Monza and end this pointless run."

Maldonado was handed a 10-second stop and go penalty and eventually finished 17th but defended himself afterwards.

"It was a very difficult moment as I was overtaken by Esteban Gutierrez," said the Venezuelan. "It was my lap to the pit, I did not see Di Resta on the outside and we crossed the line. I tried to break and avoid the incident but it was too late.

"It was a good start but we need to keep pushing just to improve. We pitted too late as we were losing in the last couple of laps."

Daniel Ricciardo, who Mark Webber says has signed to replace him at Red Bull next season, insisted he was happy with a hard-earned point in his Toro Rosso.

"It was nice to get that point," said the Australian. "We were out of the points for the entire race but that last set of option tyres helped us get that crucial point.

"It was a little bit frustrating but the team assured me it would come good and that was great."

Ricciardo's compatriot Mark Webber battled to fifth place despite a clutch problem hindering his preparation and start.

"We were worried before the start of the race," said the Red Bull driver. "The preparation was poor. We were on the back foot. We tried our best, but we had top gear to race in clear air.

"The two practice starts we did were diabolical. The clutch was like tractor. That's where we were. It turned out to be not great. In the end, you murder the tyres trying to recover and it just snowballs. The win would have been difficult, but we had pace for the podium."