Pedro de la Rosa will be the next driver to test tyres for Pirelli having lost his seat at Sauber.
Nick Heidfeld, who took de la Rosa’s place in the team, has already done work for the Italian tyre manufacturer, as has Romain Grosjean.
The Spanish driver will get behind the wheel of the Toyota F1 car being used by Pirelli at Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on October the fifth and sixth.
Read more: Pirelli swap Heidfeld for Grosjean in test "to avoid favouring any individual team"
Its Hammer time
23rd September 2010, 16:25
This where the F1 community as a whole needs PDLR. Doing development work on next years tires. He evidently has a flair for it (look at the in season progress Mclaren have been able to manage in the last few seasons while he was their test driver.)
Also, and far more critically, he can no longer bore the pants off me on sunday afternoon’s :-)
TheGreatCornholio
23rd September 2010, 21:20
Quality post, particularly the latter part! Lol
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
23rd September 2010, 16:30
I think the Pirelli test team ought to be the 13th team next season. They’ve got two half decent drivers, a good Toyota customer package and, of course, plenty of experience on the new tyres. They’d be a decent outside bet for the championship I think!
Adam
23rd September 2010, 17:37
Brilliant idea! They seem to have a decent budget, too.
sumedh
23rd September 2010, 16:34
Merry-go-round?
Whats next? Kobayashi tests, while Nick and De La Rosa drive?
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
24th September 2010, 2:25
Kobayashi is too young for this job.
James
23rd September 2010, 17:39
Excellent news. I was expecting this to happen at some point and glad it has.
Faraz
23rd September 2010, 18:30
Kind of nice that Pedro has got some job in F1. He wasn’t great on track but I liked him he was a nice guy
GQsm
23rd September 2010, 18:52
according to a quote on Autosport they were impressed with Romain at Monza and will be retaining him too.
Sound_Of_Madness (@)
23rd September 2010, 19:19
Good choice, de la Rosa is an excellent tester. It is the driving part where he messes up a bit :)
US_Peter (@us_peter)
23rd September 2010, 19:45
Too bad for Grosjean, could’ve been his ticket into F1 next year.
BBT
23rd September 2010, 20:05
Doesn’t belong on this thread but some fascinating discussions this Thursday from the press releases from Singapore.
Mclaren contradicting themselves, RBR saying that Ferrari are now their nearest competitor / threat.
Its building nicely….
TheGreatCornholio
23rd September 2010, 21:27
Definitely a good move by Pirelli, DLR may not be hot poop as a race driver but he’s a great test driver and has experience of current F1 cars and tyres. Perfect man for the job!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
24th September 2010, 2:24
Good one experience driver replaces another.
Mike
24th September 2010, 3:20
He’s one of the best, if not the best test driver around, and he has a mammoth load of experience… This might not be where he wants to be, but it’s something he can do, and he can do it well.
Adrian
25th September 2010, 8:47
I wonder if PDLR has had a call from Martin Whitmarsh yet asking whether he wants his old job back… ;-)