Di Resta: Macau toughest challenge

The Briton is installed as one of the favourites for success on the famous streets, but admits that his lack of experience, allied to changeable weather conditions, has left him convinced he is in for a hard time.

"I think this is probably going to the toughest race so far that I have ever had to do," the ASM driver told autosport.com. "There are a lot of second, third and even fourth year drivers here. I have never been here, it is my first time, so it is going to be interesting to see how good I am.

"But the main problem at the moment is the weather. It looks like it is going to be wet in the mornings and then dry in the afternoons so it is not going to be easy."

This year's Macau Grand Prix has drawn one of the strongest line-ups for several years, with all the national champions having elected to compete.

As well as di Resta, British champion Mike Conway, Italian champion Mauro Massironi and Japanese winner Adrian Sutil are all taking part. BMW-Sauber test driver Sebastian Vettel and Williams tester Kazuki Nakajima will also be competing.

Sutil, who hopes to secure a Spyker-MF1 testing deal in the next few weeks, echoed di Resta's concerns about the weather.

"I think in the rain everybody has their problems here because nobody knows the track in the rain," he said. "Even if you don't know the track and you start straight in the rain it is maybe a little scarier and you have to be more careful.

"There could be rain on Thursday morning, but I hope on the other days it will be dry. It will make it for sure an exciting race."