Doesn't matter where he got to at a certain point in the race. It's where he finished that matters.
Wasn't his DNF last race all to do with missing his breaking point and crashing into the back of another driver.
I used to support him. My issue with him now is nothing to do with what he says. It's the fact he just isn't showing enough talent. Isn't it 3 years he's been at FI now? Still not done enough to move up the ladder and, in my opinion, has squandered his chance in the sport.
Okay, by your own argument, Sutil is then even worse. If you're saying that "It's where he finished that matters" - which is what you've just said - then with di Resta ahead of Sutil in the championship, then you're saying that Sutil is not showing any talent either. If you are - then fair enough, but also if you are - then in my opinion it's far too one dimensional an approach to evaluating a driver either in F1 or in motorsport in general, and simply not accurate.
You're correct that in terms of points and the championship, then what matters is where he finished. But in terms of evaluating either his overall performance and potential, or talent, you are very, very wrong. Once again, he had the Force India in 3rd place, and would have still been competing for that place after the next round of pitstops had the safety car not come out. To overdrive and make a mistake is something that in the past, Hamilton has done, Vettel has done, Senna has done, Prost has done. Beyond those names, it's also something that 99.9% of all racing drivers have done multiple times.
All of that said - I agree completely that di Resta HAS to start getting some results in the next few races after a combination of team and individual errors have prevented him scoring for a few races now.
Favourite racing series: F1, Indycar, NASCAR, GP2, F3, Formula E, Trophee Andros, DTM, WTCC, BTCC, World Endurance... etc. etc.