Pirelli Targets De la Rosa for April Tire Test

Pedro de la Rosa's driving services seem of high value these days, despite the fact that the Spaniard's phone number was not dialed by many F1 teams in recent months. With no F1 squad expressing interest in signing de la Rosa as a race driver in 2011, he eventually chose to go back to McLaren Mercedes and resume his reserve driver duties at Woking, abandoning his testing role with tire manufacturer Pirelli in the process.

However, even though they still have some time left to look for a replacement, the Italians seem to want the Spanish driver for yet another testing session next month. Pirelli's next tire test is scheduled in April, in Istanbul, and the lack of experienced drivers available for such a job has made Pirelli think twice about appointing a new man for its testing purposes.

According to Autosport, Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery confirmed that a newly-improved chassis of the Toyota F1 test car will be used in Istanbul, and that the opinion of an experienced driver such as de la Rosa, who also used to test for Pirelli on the initial Toyota racer, would count greatly in Pirelli's development scheme.

“Our first tests are in April, and ideally I would like Pedro to do those tests before he leaves us - as I would like some continuity,” said Hembery.

“We have made some modifications to the Toyota for this year to increase the downforce and, having driven the last car, I would like Pedro to compare them. After that [test], I think it would create problems with the other teams if it went forward. But we would appreciate some sort of handover,” he added.

Of course, Pirelli would have to get McLaren's permission to “use” de la Rosa in the April test, while also hoping that the other teams won't have any objections to the move. After all, employing a driver that already has a contract with an F1 team would lead to some sort of conflict of interests, as it would provide McLaren with updated data on how the Pirelli tires will work.