Formula 1

De la Rosa ends F1 test return with sore neck

After a seven year hiatus as a fully-fledged race driver, Pedro de la Rosa ended Monday at Valencia with a sore neck. Since 2003, the nearly 39-year-old Spaniard has been McLaren's test and reserve driver, which in recent times has not involved ...

GMM

Published: Feb 2, 2010, 11:02 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

After a seven year hiatus as a fully-fledged race driver, Pedro de la Rosa ended Monday at Valencia with a sore neck.

Since 2003, the nearly 39-year-old Spaniard has been McLaren's test and reserve driver, which in recent times has not involved very much actual driving.

He returns in 2010 as Sauber's race driver, but some were relating his quick times in the new C29 car to the Swiss team's livery devoid of sponsorship.

"I am tired, the neck hurts more than usual on the first day, but no one should forget that I have not been in a (F1) car for a year," de la Rosa is quoted as saying by Spain's Diario Sport.

It was not a great day for Toro Rosso, whose Sebastien Buemi enjoyed very little running in the newly launched STR5 due to a gearbox problem.

Robert Kubica, meanwhile, was clearly the slowest runner in the Renault, which has been criticised since its Sunday launch for too closely resembling its uncompetitive 2009 predecessor.

The Polish driver did, however, manage a healthy 69 laps, and observed afterwards that he has seldom "ever driven such a (fuel) heavy car".

Team boss Eric Boullier is quoted as saying by France's Auto Hebdo: "The purpose of this Valencia test is really to validate the concept of the R30, not to search for performance.

"That will come later," the Frenchman added.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Renault Valencia test report 2010-02-01

Next article Stefan GP ships F1 equipment to Bahrain

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP2 with live timing

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

26 min

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP2 with live timing

F1 Mexico GP: Charles Leclerc beats Kimi Antonelli to top FP1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

2 h

F1 Mexico GP: Charles Leclerc beats Kimi Antonelli to top FP1

What Fernando Alonso is getting wrong about F1 driving standards

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

3 h

What Fernando Alonso is getting wrong about F1 driving standards

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP1 with live timing

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

3 h

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP1 with live timing

Feature

Discover prime content

What’s the state of play at F1’s smallest team?

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What’s the state of play at F1’s smallest team?

Is history really repeating itself? What Christian Horner’s Adrian Newey claim says about Aston Martin and Red Bull

Formula 1

By Ronald Vording

Is history really repeating itself? What Christian Horner’s Adrian Newey claim says about Aston Martin and Red Bull

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The one aspect of the 2026 US GP that should be a blueprint for F1 2027

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

A strategic masterclass: How Kimi Antonelli put himself on the cusp of F1 title at the US GP

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts