f1buzz.net

It seems Pedro de la Rosa still has ambitions for an F1 race seat. The 37-year-old Spanish driver has been in Formula One since starting as a test driver with Jordan in 1998.  Since then he has driven for Arrows and Jaguar before joining McLaren as test driver in 2003. He is one of the few drivers to have scored points in his debut Grand Prix and he finished in second place behind Jenson Button at the eventful 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Speaking at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, de la Rosa said:

At the moment, at my age, if I put one step in a different category I know that my chances of getting back into a full race drive are very slim.

So I have to be with the best, I have to test with the best, and become a more intelligent and complete test driver.

So that’s my only chance to come back, but for sure I will come back.

Is it too late for Pedro? He is the same age as David Coulthard who retired at the end of last season and with Lewis Hamilton taking Alonso’s record to become the youngest ever Formula One Champion at age 23 F1 seems to be more and more a young man’s game. Sebastien Vettel is only 21 (and looks about 15). Even Rubens Barrichello is younger than de la Rosa.

I admire Pedro for keeping the dream alive. I think he is a good driver and has put in some impressive performances when he has had to step into the McLaren on race day.  I would like to see him with a permanent race seat. But that being said I can’t really see it happening. There comes a time when if you haven’t made it by now you’re not going to.

It could be that de la Rosa is just better as a test driver than as a race driver and this is where Ron Dennis thinks he can be of most value to the team. I think we need to look at the test driver role not as simply a stepping stone to a full race seat but as a vital team role that takes as much, if somewhat different, skill as a race driver. Just like the safety car driver is an important role that has its own unique demands.

Unfortunately safety car drivers and test drivers don’t get the same salary as race drivers and if in his heart Pedro still wants a race seat then he is probably right that if he sets foot outside of Formula One he will never get back in again.

Ross Brawn, Team Principal of Honda, has said he is “really optimistic” about the chances of the team finding a buyer by the end of the month. Speaking to Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport, he also said Honda have approached Ferrari about the possibility of them supplying engines for the team in 2009.

But while other teams are preparing to launch their 2009 cars in the coming weeks, Honda faces “at least six weeks of work” integrating whatever engine they decide to go with. Honda have already said they will not supply the team with engines in 2009. So once again, even if Honda survive to race in 2009, it will be another “transitional” season for the team. Brawn said:

We are studying a package of evolutions for 2010, when we aim to step up the ladder. Next year will remain for us a transitional one.

How many years does the loyal Jenson Button have to wait to get a car deserving of his talents? It was clear early last year that Honda’s RA108 just wasn’t fast enough but with Ross Brawn signing on and the 2009 reboot of the rules I was hoping Honda (and Jenson in particular) could be competetive in 2009. Unfortunately it seems like Button’s career will be put on hold for another year. Bernie Ecclestone thinks he should hold out for a seat in a top team:

He should be in any of the top teams. I’d rather see him wait to get a seat in one of those than race in an uncompetitive car.

He might not have a choice.

There’s still no official word from Toro Rosso about who will be driving for them in 2009 but in speaking to the Blick newspaper in Sweden Gerhard Berger said: “For 2009 Toro Rosso has a good and fast driver in Buemi.”

Berger is no longer a part owner of Toro Rosso having sold his fifty percent stake in the team back to Red Bull but we can assume he is still pretty close to the team. Does this mean the Swiss driver will soon be confirmed at Toro Rosso and if so who will his team mate be? Sebastien Bourdais had some bad luck in 2008 and didn’t really get the results he deserved but as I said before I hope we get to see Takuma Sato in F1 again this year.

Takuma Sato put in the second fastest time in the Toro Rosso in testing at Jerez today; a little over half a second behind new guy Sebastien Buemi although Sato did it in only 38 laps whereas the Swiss driver had 128 laps to get his eye in. Sebastien Bourdais was third fastest.

I hope Sato gets a place at Toro Rosso in 2009.  Sure, he had a reputation as a bit of a crasher but that’s what made him so fun to watch.  You were never sure when Taku was going to try some crazy banzai move up the inside of someone, probably his team mate.