A point to prove for Pedro de la Rosa

Pedro de la Rosa has not held a full time race seat in seven years, but his role at McLaren as test and reserve driver has provided the Spanish veteran with plenty of Formula One mileage.

Luca Badoer’s failure to shine with Ferrari last year has not helped the cause of the regular test drivers, but de Rosa believes he still has the pace to be competitive. However, de la Rosa now has a Sauber race contract in his pocket for the coming season and he has a point to prove.

“I would not be here if I did not think I still had what it takes,” he told the official Formula One website. “I have a huge amount of motivation. I am a hard worker and I think that is the most important thing at this level, to still have the motivation and hunger to attack, and to work every day as if it was the last day. So yes, I have what it takes. How good will I be? We will see. I believe I can be a lot better than people expect and let’s take it from there.”

De la Rosa admits it has been something of a tough off-season as he came close to securing the ride before the opportunity seemed to slip away. However his patience has paid off and he will line up alongside Kamui Kobayashi on the grid in Bahrain, much to the frustration of 2009 BMW Sauber test driver Christian Klien who had been chasing the same seat for some time.

"I was well aware that my main rival for the seat was Pedro de la Rosa," the Austrian stated on his personal website. "In my view, the fact that the decision was taken so late, shows that it was not an easy one for Peter Sauber."

"In the past two months I have been to Hinwil about every ten days to speak with the engineers about the development of the 2010 car. I was in a good position to get the drive. At the end of the day the drivers’ decision is up to the management and they have to take all factors into consideration."

Klien is in talks with two teams – presumably Campos Meta and USF1 – regarding a race deal for the coming season and is hoping that things will fall his way ahead of the scheduled February tests.

"My goal is to be racing in F1 this season and I still have every chance to achieve that," he concluded.