Pedro de la Rosa: I’ve never raced at Singapore

Pedro de la Rosa has never raced around the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore, even though the Spaniard has competed in 100 Grands Prix throughout his career in Formula 1. Regardless of this stat, de la Rosa is confident ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, a race where HRT are set to introduce several new upgrades.

After a relatively successful Italian Grand Prix, Pedro de la Rosa believes another competitive result can be achieved by the Madrid-based outfit once track action begins under the floodlights around the daunting Marina Bay street circuit. Although Pedro de la Rosa has never raced around the 5.073km circuit, the Spaniard has carried out numerous hours of simulator work on the circuit during his time as a test driver for McLaren.

"I’ve never raced at Singapore but I know the circuit because of my simulator work as a test driver for McLaren.” Explained Pedro de la Rosa, “It’s a spectacular track and probably the toughest circuit on the brakes in the entire Championship besides being a very physically demanding race because of the heat and humidity. We should have a good performance as there are many slow corners and it is quite similar to Monaco. Besides, we’ve got an aero upgrade which should help us to cut down the gap to our rivals. I have to make the most of the practice session to adapt to the circuit but I’m up for the challenge.”

Although HRT have spent the majority of the 2012 season at the back of the pack, it’s undeniable that the Spanish-outfit have a tremendous reliability record. Only once have both cars failed to finish a race this season, at the Canadian Grand Prix when both drivers suffered brake issues on their cars. The teams’ aim is naturally to continue with this decent form of reliability, around one of the toughest circuits on the calendar.

Follow me on Twitter - @AndyYoungF1