Friday 15 August at 12:11 : Paul di Resta, a Scottish driver who currently races in Germany's DTM series, believes he deserves Sebastian Vettel's spot on the formula one grid.

At 22, di Resta is slightly older than Vettel, the highly-rated German driver who last year debuted for Toro Rosso and is already confirmed to move up to the senior team Red Bull in 2009.

Di Resta actually beat Vettel to the prestigious F3 Euroseries crown two years ago, but is now spending a second season in DTM, where this year he is driving for Mercedes-Benz's premier effort.

"I am not surprised Sebastian has been given an opening in F1, but he shouldn't have gotten there before me," he told the Scottish newspaper The Herald.

Di Resta bemoans F1's notorious politics, and the fact that - despite having high-profile racer Dario Franchitti as a cousin - being Scottish is less of an asset than being German like Vettel.

"You can't ignore the fact that there are a lot of politics in this business. I am still young, but, to be honest, I can't hang around if I want to earn a place in formula one.

"If I haven't gotten there by the time I am 25, then I'm realistic enough to accept I'll be snookered," he said.

Di Resta insists, however, that he is happy to keep working hard to fulfil his F1 dream.

"There are hundreds of youngsters doing their best to scale the heights, so you can't afford to wait for anybody to gift you hand-outs," he said.

"I have to win the DTM and there is no reason not to think that I can do it."