Hispania Racing Team signs McLaren test driver, Pedro de la Rosa for 2012 season – Formula 1 news
McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa has been signed by Hispania Racing Team for 2012 on a two-year contract.
De la Rosa began his career in 1999 when he joined the Arrows team, and then he moved on to a short stint with Jaguar. Soon after, he became a test driver for McLaren. In 2006, he got the opportunity to compete in eight races but was still a test driver.
Although in 2010 de la Rosa got the chance to join Sauber but mid-season Nick Heidfeld replaced him.
During the Canadian GP Sergio Perez was unwell and had to be replaced and de la Rosa got the opportunity to do a one-off race.
It has not been announced that de la Rosa will be one of the drivers driving next season in 2012 though the Spanish driver said that the chance to driver for a Spanish team was too good to turn down. HRT’s current owners Thesan Capital are moving the team
to Valencia.
“This is a very important step in my sporting career and one of the most meditated ones I've taken,” de la Rosa said. “I'm at a very good stage in terms of maturity and am prepared to take on this challenge, which motivates me hugely.”
“When deciding on joining this project, for me there were three decisive factors: my desire to return to the active competition, the fact that HRT is a Spanish team and getting to know the people leading this project, Luis Pérez-Sala being amongst them,”
he further added.
HRT team principal Colin Kolles praised de la Rosa and said that he would be a fundamental foundation for the team’s progress, which shows that he will be very much part of the team activity and might be getting races instead of being just a reserve driver,
which has been the case for him through most of his career.
Kolles also mentioned that adding de la Rosa to the team gives his young team the experience it needs, and given the prestige of the driver, it can only mean good progress for them.
De la Rosa, 40, has a lot of experience but he has never had a full run with race seat for the most part of his career and maybe this opportunity can rejuvenate the career of a talented driver.
Tags: