Paul Di Resta was well familiar with Silverstone long before he drove a Force India in yesterday morning’s first free practice session.

The 24-year-old from West Lothian used to watch his cousin Dario Franchitti, the IndyCar champion and twice winner of the Indianapolis 500, race there when he was a child. “But I think the first time I was there was with my dad [Louis] when he was racing in the Superkart Grand Prix,” he recalls. “I was very young – I can remember watching Dario testing in Vauxhall Junior, and then when he was racing in DTM [German Touring Car Masters].”

Today Di Resta is widely seen as the next Briton likely to race in Formula One, after his manager Anthony Hamilton – yes, Lewis’s dad – won him the role as test and reserve driver for Force India, though currently the Silverstone-based squad has contracts with drivers Tonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil.

In his morning tests Di Resta has proved himself fast and mistake-free, well capable of doing the job. “There’s always an element of pressure,” he says, “but so long as I come back with the results it gives the team another impression of the car.”

When your background embraces icons such as Jimmy Clark and Jackie Stewart, there’s a lot to live up to. “I appreciate that history,” Di Resta says, “and I hope one day I can be part of that. But I also have my own goals, and one of them is that I want to be world champion myself. Even when I was karting, it was ‘could I be part of that?’ rather than ‘would it happen?’”

A self-contained, no-nonsense type, Di Resta seems formidably focused on those goals.

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If McLaren can reproduce or improve on their showing in the first half of the season during the second half of the campaign, the titles should come their way.

Appreciating a level of calm that has descended on McLaren of late, Hamilton said: “Over the last few years we’ve learned from a number of difficulties, and through those you grow and become stronger.

“Our approach this year as a team as a whole, in terms of power and the operational side of things, has gone very smoothly.

“I feel we’ve all the right people in the right positions. The team has the two drivers they wanted and we’re both doing a job.

“We’ve the aerodynamicists doing their job, the engineers building the parts doing their job, so it feels bit by bit we’re getting all the segments in the right position to win this championship.

“It’s still a work in progress, but it’s better than it ever has been, and Jenson has contributed heavily to that.”

It is another sign of their growing relationship that Hamilton does at least credit Button for his input, even though the 30-year-old has only been with the Woking-based marque six months.

“I do feel the team is growing, and when I get in the car, it feels the best it has ever done since I’ve been in Formula One,” added Hamilton.

“That’s due to a lot of work I’ve put in, a lot of work the team have put in and I’ve done with them, and a lot of work Jenson has done with us.

“I hope this is a good start to something very special for many years to come.

“As a team, since I’ve been here, we’ve not had a car that’s been good every year – we’ve had a good car, then a bad car, now a good car.

“We want to make sure we have a good car every year. We want to be the best, and we’re doing everything we can as a team to make sure we optimise everything.”

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Rossi will link up with the team from his native Italy as former world champion Casey Stoner of Australia leaves Ducati to join Honda.

The 31-year-old Rossi finished fifth in Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix for Yamaha.

His chances of retaining the world title this year were dealt a blow by a six-week absence with a broken leg.

“It is very difficult to explain in just a few words what my relationship with Yamaha has been in these past seven years,” said Rossi.

Working with Valentino is one of the most exciting things for every engineer and its good to know we will have this great opportunity next season Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse general director

“Many things have changed since that far-off time in 2004 but especially ’she’, my M1, has changed. At that time, she was a poor middle-grid position MotoGP bike, derided by most of the riders and the MotoGP workers.

“Now, after having helped her to grow and improve, you can see her smiling in her garage, courted and admired, treated as the top of her class.

“Now the moment has come to look for new challenges, my work here at Yamaha is finished.

“Unfortunately, even the most beautiful love stories finish, but they leave behind a lot of wonderful memories, like when my M1 and I kissed for the first time at Welkom, when she looked straight into my eyes and told me ‘I love you’.”

Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse general director, said: “Firstly, Valentino is a great fan of motorcycles and so it has always been a pleasure for me to listen to his opinions.

“Until the Valencia GP, he will remain a competitor, one so great that he has always given a special value to our victories, but as soon as he rides the Ducati for the first time we will work together on every single detail that will develop a bike capable of showing his huge talent.

“Working with Valentino is one of the most exciting things for every engineer and it is good to know we will have this great opportunity next season.”

Hayden was world champion in 2006

Former world champion Nicky Hayden has signed a two-year deal to stay with Ducati and partner Valentino Rossi.

American Hayden who won the world title in 2006 with Honda, has raced for Ducati for two years and is sixth in the 2010 season’s standings.

The 29-year-old said: “Next year I’ll be teamed with some guy named Rossi who knows a little something about bikes.”

World champion Rossi, 31, will join Ducati for 2011 after Australia’s Casey Stoner announced he was joining Honda.