De La Rosa returns, seriously!

[kfzmeister]

Didn't i read than HRT has some sort of technical partnership with McLaren, or are using their KERS next year? Iirc, that would all make sense, then.
PDR at HRT is the perfect marriage coming from Macca. It can only help them. Go HRT.
BTW, thought i read they already wanna attack Marussia at Brazil for the finale....

[Nikki Katz]

Personally I would've kept Liuzzi over de la Rosa, but really I would've hung around and signed Sutil in a couple of months. Would also have picked up Barrichello before de la Rosa.
Also, a two year contract? He'll be 42 by the end of 2013...

[christophulus]

Didn't i read than HRT has some sort of technical partnership with McLaren, or are using their KERS next year?

I think they've linked up with Williams actually?

Anyway, of all the people who could've joined HRT, I didn't expect De La Rosa. Especially on a two year deal! He must have stumped up some serious cash to guarantee a seat, or be happy to risk the musical chairs that always seems to happen at HRT.

[555-04Q2]

Pedro de la Rosa will return to Formula 1 racing with HRT next season after signing a two-year deal with the squad, making his competitive comeback after his latest McLaren testing stint

Pedro de la Rosa signs for HRT from 2012 - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

All I can say is: Eish!?

[truefan72]

Good luck for Pedro! Maybe not the best driver, but he has spirit and experience!

agreed

[RS]

Quite weird to see a team such as HRT announcing a driver so early. I can only presume that the new owners are putting some serious money in themselves and wanted a Spanish driver or that Pedro is bringing a sponsor.

[Robinho]

How about this for a theory, HRT (Williams rear end/gearbox) take Rubens as their 2nd driver, maybe part paid by Williams, to allow for either Kimi or Sutil (or both if they don't want the Venezualan money) - following the trend of Lotus (to be Caterham) of taking 2 experienced drivers and the back end of a better car.

please resurrect if this happens, or please ignore when it actually turns out to be rubbish

[I am evil Homer]

I'm not a PDlR fan but I actually think this is, ultimately, a smart move for HRT. They need someone to guide their car development if they are seriousd about being an F1 fixture even in the medium-term and trying to move up the grid. There are very few decent drivers capable of that but Pedro is one of them.

As a race driver he's not that brilliant, he's always been steady, but his knowledge of testing and development during his time at McLaren will be invaluable to HRT. Sure, you could put a rookie with potential in the seat but they're unlikely to offer much by way of guidance on why a car is behaving in a certain way. Just look at Daniel, a guy touted as the next 'big thing' who has been pretty poor.

I don't think this is a waste of seat at all, certainly no more so than Maldonado, Petrov or Buemi who have seats a bigger teams with better resources but have shown little to no improvement.

[jens]

Just look at Daniel, a guy touted as the next 'big thing' who has been pretty poor.

Cannot agree. He has beaten Liuzzi and also d'Ambrosio on occasion. It's the best that can be done with that car.

[I am evil Homer]

Wow he's beaten a rubbish rookie and a never-been.