De la Rosa Urges Ferrari to Solve Engine Problem

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa doesn't seem to care about the latest rumors that suggest his potential replacement from BMW Sauber-Ferrari in the next few weeks, as he looks to the future with plenty of confidence. First of all, he wants his team to improve once on European soil, as new parts will be fitted onto the C29 from as early as the Barcelona event.

“We have high hopes for Barcelona. We have new parts to improve the car's performance, it is a major leap,” said De la Rosa in a short interview with Spain's El Mundo Deportivo.

Additionally, the 39-year old driver insisted on the engine problems his team has experienced in the early stages of the season. While the Hinwil based team is still investigating the issues that led to his engine failure in China, some German reports suggested that Ferrari's similar problems were due to a faulty pneumatic system.

“And we hope that Ferrari have now solved the engine problem,” added De la Rosa, whose engine breakdown in China was his second in a row, following the problems he had in Malaysia.

Until now, Ferrari are yet to comment on the reports issued by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. Back when Fernando Alonso's engine failure happened in Malaysia, the Scuderia issued a statement in which it confirmed that BMW Sauber's problems were not similar to the Scuderia's.

However, what is crystal clear until this point is that the Ferrari 2.4-liter V8s have a huge disadvantage over their rivals, as no less than 4 engines have broken down in the last 4 races (two for each team). Like De la Rosa, Alonso also experienced 2 engine failures, the last of which happened in the first practice of the Chinese Grand Prix (when he used the engine from Bahrain).