Sauber to Sign Pedro de la Rosa in a Few Hours

Former McLaren Mercedes test driver Pedro de la Rosa will likely return to Formula One racing as a full-time driver with Peter Sauber's team. Although the news is yet to be made official, several media in Spain and Switzerland have suggested that the confirmation is due to be made public in a matter of hours, or a “few days” at the most.

De la Rosa was on Sauber's list of desired drivers for the past couple of weeks, alongside another experienced F1 racer Giancarlo Fisichella. A few days ago, the Swiss team owner revealed to the media that Kamui Kobayashi's teammate will be an experienced one, therefore making an obvious statement that it would be either De la Rosa, or Fisichella to take the vacant seat for 2010.

Spain's Diario AS and Switzerland's Blick have both suggested that a De la Rosa – Sauber deal is not imminent, therefore putting an end to Fisichella's dream of continuing for one more season in the F1 championship. It is also reported that the deal may be for more than one season, but we'll know more once the announcement will be made.

As it's not rocket science for anybody, the fact that counted the most in Sauber's decision to sign De la Rosa was sponsor-related. Needless to say, the Spaniard brought Sauber F1 a couple of new sponsors, including Universia, a subsidiary of the Spanish bank Santander that used to sponsor Alonso at Renault. Of course, this news also is yet to be confirmed.

Sauber recently lost one of their most important sponsors in F1, namely Petronas, which is why the management of the team started focusing on drivers who can bring some sponsorship money with them at Hinwil. Kamui Kobayashi was allegedly picked by the team for their 2010 campaign thanks to his Panasonic sponsorship.