The McLaren test driver argued that the in-season testing ban keeps both the test and the reserve drivers out of work for the entire F1 season, something that becomes risky should one of them be put in a position to debut in the middle of the season. Straight line testing are not regarded as enough of a challenge for the test drivers to get used to driving an F1 car at full capacity.
De la Rosa added that, if he or any other test driver out there would be asked to fill in for an injured (or fired) driver from the current F1 roster, he would have some second thoughts due to the long period of inactivity at the wheel of an F1 car. While risky for him, who has driven F1 cars for the past 11 years, the situation would get even more complicated for young drivers like Romain Grosjean and Jaime Alguersuari.
The two aforementioned drivers are rumored to make their debut in Formula One from as early as the Hungarian Grand Prix two weekends from now, and this is not at all good news, according to De la Rosa.
“This is a madness. If tomorrow I have to step in because one of our drivers are hurt, I would probably do a lousy job. Lack of experience should be extremely careful to work with. When you sit down after such a long break it's not easy to drive a Formula 1 car to the limit. For beginners it's even harder. How will (Romain) Grosjean and (Jaime) Alguersuari perform without a prior test. It's a huge risk,” De la Rosa was quoted as saying to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.
Instead, the Spaniard argues that, should the 8 days of straight-line aerodynamic testing be replaced by 5 days of regular testing, but only for test drivers and rookies, it would make for a much more careful approach of the matter, while also costing the same.
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