Pirelli confirms de la Rosa as F1 test driver

ERJ staff report (DS)

Milan, Italy -- Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa will replace Nick Heidfeld as Pirelli's official test driver, as the Italian firm gears up for its Formula One return.

Heidfeld was recently appointed as a race driver for Sauber over the remainder of this season after carrying out the initial tests with Pirelli's new Formula One tyres. He was replaced by Frenchman Romain Grosjean at Monza last week, who will continue to test for Pirelli alongside de la Rosa.

Pirelli completed two days of testing at Monza in Italy last week, which concentrated on defining the construction of the new Formula One tyres. Grosjean completed a number of long runs consisting of 30 to 40 laps each, in order to check the durability and consistency of the tyre in warm conditions. Thanks to its fast straights and aggressive kerbs, Monza is an extremely demanding circuit for tyres, which stood up to the new challenge very well. At the same time, Giorgio Pantano continued to test the new GP2 car, which will also run on Pirelli PZero tyres next year as well as its feeder GP3 Series.

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Press release from Pirelli