Pedro de la Rosa to stay Pirelli’s official test driver
Former Sauber driver Pedro de la Rosa joined the new tyre supplying company of Formula One, Pirelli, after he was dropped by Team Sauber in the final quarter of the 2010 season. Pirelli’s Director Paul Hembery stated that Pedro will remain Pirelli’s official
test driver, even though he is going to turn 40 this month.
“[He'll] stay unless he gets a drive somewhere else,” Hembery said.
Pedro was unable to give a promising performance in 2010 season as he scored just 6 points, while his teammate Kamui Kobayashi gave an amazing performance and scored 32 points in a car far less competitive than others on the grids.
Team Sauber finished at 8th spot in the constructors’ standings, registering their name as the least points scoring team after Toro Rosso. It was quite a disappointing season for the team, as only Kamui was able to earn points consistently. If
Pedro earned points actively alongside Kobayashi, it would have been a completely different story for Team Sauber then.
Pedro was replaced by Nick Heidfeld before the final quarter of the 2010 Formula 1 season began. The move was criticised largely, as changing drivers in the middle of the season is quite risky for any team.
Despite below-par performances by Pedro, Paul Hembery believes that the 39-year-old driver is the perfect man for Pirelli’s job, and they are looking forward to test their new tyres with the Spaniard at their next test session.
“That's not looking likely in F1 at the moment, so we are very happy for Pedro to continue with us, and maybe he will get involved in some of our other race programmes. He's a great tester and we are absolutely delighted with the work he is doing,” he added.
Pirelli is going to continue its development process and make their new tyre compounds even better as the season progresses. However, the lone tyre suppliers have yet to decide whether they will test during the Friday practice session or during the post-race
test sessions the following Mondays.
It is going to be interesting to see how the teams perform using Pirelli during the 2011 season. The best part about these tyres is that they are designed according to the drivers’ own likings; hence, none of the drivers will have the right to complain about
them.
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