Paul di Resta believes he has the talent to land a F1 title, emphasising his disappointment at failing to land a big-name drive next season.
For the majority of the campaign Di Resta was linked with a potential move to Ferrari, Mercedes or McLaren given how much he has impressed over the course of his near two seasons in Formula One.
Mercedes, however, turned to Lewis Hamilton, whose seat at McLaren has been taken by Sergio Perez, whilst Ferrari opted to re-sign Felipe Massa for another campaign.
It means Di Resta has to content himself with a third season at Force India for 2013, which is still a far better position than many other drivers, but not when he is starting to grow impatient for race wins and podiums.
Asked about missing out on a high-profile move, Di Resta said: "There is always disappointment.
"I've always said I want to be in a car that's winning races and championships.
"At least the team were quite open about their position. They said they would not hold me back if something came up.
"But for whatever reason it's not happened, so you have to continue where you are.
"This team is obviously growing, and you want to be part of something that's growing and will hopefully be successful.
"But I definitely feel ready for a title tilt. I'm definitely in a position where I feel the consistency is there.
"I've still got time. I'm 26. But you get to a point where you want to be on the podium, where you want to be winning races on a regular basis."
One reason why Di Resta was overlooked at McLaren was the fact the team did not want to have two British drivers again bearing in mind a number of partners had expressed concerns at the 'Britishness' of the team.
"I should have said I'm Scottish!" joked Di Resta.
"I'm one of the British drivers, but I'm not sitting there in charge and making the ultimate decisions.
"There are aspects of Formula One that not everybody will understand - timing I suppose, timing is key."
Ahead of Sunday's Indian Grand Prix, Di Resta was forced to fend off questions about whether he would be in F1 next year given the financial difficulties faced by co-owner and team principal Vijay Mallya.
Mallya's airline in particular, Kingfisher, is understood to be £1.5billion in debt, with its planes grounded since March.
As far as Di Resta is concerned, Mallya's interest in his F1 team and his other business enterprises are not connected.
"As far as I'm aware the two companies are separate," said Di Resta.
"There is a Formula One division, then there are Vijay's other two businesses, and I'm employed to race a car. That's what I do.
"Anything else is not something I can influence, not something I've control over.
"The team is going along at the moment. Everything seems as normal as it is."
