[twiffatticy]

Pedro de la Rosa will return to Formula 1 racing with HRT next season after signing a two-year deal with the squad, making his competitive comeback after his latest McLaren testing stint

Pedro de la Rosa signs for HRT from 2012 - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

[Varbaiskkic]

I'm not sure who is more desperate: him or HRT!

I suppose the thought is that he'll bring useful experience to the team, but I can't help thinking there are far better options out there.

[LindaSmithXV]

Can you believe they dug this loser up again - no wonder Spain is in economic crisis!!

[Hoijdxvh]

I don't think it's such a bad thing. He's never going to win the WDC so his pace isn't the issue is it. What HRT need is someone that can help develop the car and if PdlR don't know what a car should feel like, then nobody does.

[SkHukV3N]

News that came totally out of the blue! So if Schumacher can race competitively into his 40's, perhaps it has created some belief in the paddock that "it can be done" at that age if you are truly committed. De la Rosa certainly has seemed committed and has kept hanging around even if he hasn't often had a race drive. His comeback in 2010 wasn't particularly embarrassing either, even though Kobayashi looked slightly more impressive.

Solid choice for a team like HRT. Perhaps not much difference whether that experienced driver of the team is Liuzzi or de la Rosa, but DLR can bring some valuable top team experience. But I do wonder, if HRT would really hire Clos (who has been strongly rumoured) as their second driver now, making it an all-Spanish team?

[Hervams]

Surely he could get a Hackney Carriage license and feel like he was covering more miles? He'd have the experience for the chatter too.

[uMG6uOSo]

Good luck for Pedro! Maybe not the best driver, but he has spirit and experience!

[VINPELA]

A solid move for HRT, they are a struggling team and with De La Rosa as lead driver that should at least help them develop their team and car, they should probably hire a young driver as his team mate to get the balance.

[KellyMP]

a mobile chicane dressed as a spanish waiter selling cheap paella parading as a Grand prix driver

[soipguibbom]

Obviously going so they can pick his brain and try to improve from where they are now with the car.This is where I thought that Rubens may have finished up at,what we don't know is if PDR is paying to drive or is a free driver,ie,not getting any pay at all,which I suspect is the case

[SkHukV3N]

Now I remembered that in 2010 Sauber was the second team after McLaren to introduce F-duct. And this was directly due to the insider information of de la Rosa, who had freshly departed from McLaren. So no wonder HRT is interested in the latest developments of a top team. Let's see, what kind of interesting design will we see on HRT's car next year!

[leijggigf]

Didn't i read than HRT has some sort of technical partnership with McLaren, or are using their KERS next year? Iirc, that would all make sense, then.
PDR at HRT is the perfect marriage coming from Macca. It can only help them. Go HRT.
BTW, thought i read they already wanna attack Marussia at Brazil for the finale....

[MoreEndotte]

Personally I would've kept Liuzzi over de la Rosa, but really I would've hung around and signed Sutil in a couple of months. Would also have picked up Barrichello before de la Rosa.
Also, a two year contract? He'll be 42 by the end of 2013...

[rojettafoxx]

Didn't i read than HRT has some sort of technical partnership with McLaren, or are using their KERS next year?

I think they've linked up with Williams actually?

Anyway, of all the people who could've joined HRT, I didn't expect De La Rosa. Especially on a two year deal! He must have stumped up some serious cash to guarantee a seat, or be happy to risk the musical chairs that always seems to happen at HRT.

[nasxbrtyol]

Pedro de la Rosa will return to Formula 1 racing with HRT next season after signing a two-year deal with the squad, making his competitive comeback after his latest McLaren testing stint

Pedro de la Rosa signs for HRT from 2012 - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

All I can say is: Eish!?

[Mister.levitra]

Good luck for Pedro! Maybe not the best driver, but he has spirit and experience!

agreed

[U2DnBGFE]

Quite weird to see a team such as HRT announcing a driver so early. I can only presume that the new owners are putting some serious money in themselves and wanted a Spanish driver or that Pedro is bringing a sponsor.

[imawlBoli]

How about this for a theory, HRT (Williams rear end/gearbox) take Rubens as their 2nd driver, maybe part paid by Williams, to allow for either Kimi or Sutil (or both if they don't want the Venezualan money) - following the trend of Lotus (to be Caterham) of taking 2 experienced drivers and the back end of a better car.

please resurrect if this happens, or please ignore when it actually turns out to be rubbish

[stutnerman]

I'm not a PDlR fan but I actually think this is, ultimately, a smart move for HRT. They need someone to guide their car development if they are seriousd about being an F1 fixture even in the medium-term and trying to move up the grid. There are very few decent drivers capable of that but Pedro is one of them.

As a race driver he's not that brilliant, he's always been steady, but his knowledge of testing and development during his time at McLaren will be invaluable to HRT. Sure, you could put a rookie with potential in the seat but they're unlikely to offer much by way of guidance on why a car is behaving in a certain way. Just look at Daniel, a guy touted as the next 'big thing' who has been pretty poor.

I don't think this is a waste of seat at all, certainly no more so than Maldonado, Petrov or Buemi who have seats a bigger teams with better resources but have shown little to no improvement.

[SkHukV3N]

Just look at Daniel, a guy touted as the next 'big thing' who has been pretty poor.

Cannot agree. He has beaten Liuzzi and also d'Ambrosio on occasion. It's the best that can be done with that car.