McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh has wished Pedro de la Rosa well following his move to Sauber.
The former Woking test driver has not raced a Formula One car for three years, but the former BMW operation nevertheless opted to recruit him to partner Kamui Kobayashi for 2010.
Spaniard De la Rosa pipped former Sauber stars Nick Heidfeld and Giancarlo Fisichella, as well as the Hinwil-based outfit’s test driver Christian Klien and highly-rated GP2 Series race-winner Vitaly Petrov, to the seat.
“Pedro has never made any secret of his continued ambition to race in Formula One,” the Whitmarsh said.
“So we were never going to stand in his way should an attractive opportunity come his way. On the contrary, we wish him well.
“He’s been a fantastic team player for the past seven years, has contributed a huge amount to our successes in that time and will remembered by all at McLaren-Mercedes as not only an esteemed colleague but also as a good friend.”
De la Rosa has not competed full-time at the highest level since 2002, acting as something of a ’super-sub’ in recent years.
He deputised for Juan Pablo Montoya at McLaren in the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir – setting his one and only fastest lap in the top flight into the bargain – then stepped into the breach again in the second half of 2006 after the Colombian prematurely parted company with his employers.
Second place to Jenson Button in the 2006 Hungarian GP is the highlight of his career.
No comments:
Post a Comment