Pedro News Opciones

[Pethead]

McLaren driver Pedro de la Rosa reflects back on his unusual race weekend in Bahrain.

How are you feeling having had chance to reflect on the Bahrain race?
“I feel very good, and am even more motivated for testing. It was a good race, I haven’t yet watched it on video but I am going to spend this weekend looking at it and analysing what we as a team could have done better. The people in Spain have also been really supportive to me since the race weekend.”

Did you set yourself a target for the race?
“My target was to finish on the podium, but I didn’t manage to do that. Fifth place is not a fantastic result but if you look at that position in the context of the amount of overtaking I did and setting the fastest lap time, it was a good race. I was aiming for the podium as I knew that it might be my last ever Formula 1 race and I wanted to score a podium finish and get my best ever Grand Prix result.”

What was it like to be back competing in a Grand Prix?
“I didn’t feel rusty at all. At the start I felt a little bit lost and during the race I made a couple of mistakes braking into turn one, but I feel that was due to a lack of racing experience over the past couple of years. At the end of the race I was feeling more confident. I was also happy about my qualifying position as it was the first time I have ever worked to the one lap qualifying format. It is a very easy circuit in which to lock your brakes, and I was happy that I did not make any mistakes during the qualifying sessions. It took a couple of laps to settle in during the Friday practice sessions, but it was quite an easy circuit to learn.”



What for you was your favourite moment of the race?
“My favourite moment was when I overtook Mark Webber two laps from the end of the Grand Prix. He (Webber) was making it extremely difficult – fair but difficult - to overtake, but I found a gap to get through and that for me was a good moment.”

How did you feel as you crossed the chequered flag?
“I felt empty, I felt like I had really given 100 percent. I was mentally tired but feeling physically strong. In fact the race was the first time in any of my Grands Prix I have competed in, that I was able to get some water from the bottle in the car.”

You were testing again on the Wednesday after the race. Were you still feeling tired after the weekend?
“No, not at all. I had spent 24 hours at home and had time to relax. I was feeling very motivated.”

Source McLaren Mercedes

[pca]

Well, here in this topic we will post English news about Pedro.

I start, copied from the Spanish Forum:

McLaren's third car is 'key'
Third driver believes that extra Friday running may be crucial for McLaren. By Jonathan Noble

McLaren third driver Pedro de la Rosa has told autosport.com that he believes the Woking-based team must make the most of its extra car on the Fridays of grand prix weekends if the team is to capitalise on the promise of its MP4-20.

The Mercedes Benz-powered team's 2005 challenger has been marked out as one of the pre-season favourites for victory in Melbourne, but de la Rosa is adamant that with rivals Renault showing as much speed in testing up until now, the third car could provide the added muscle needed to lift McLaren to the top.

Speaking to autosport.com about the team's chances for the year, a beaming de la Rosa could not hide his confidence about the MP4-20 and was eagerly awaiting getting on with his Friday role.

“We have made a very good car - that is the truth,” said de la Rosa. “And Michelin has made a very big step forward. We really have to take advantage of having the third car, which is my job. It's a lot of responsibility on me and I'm very happy to take that."

McLaren's dismal start to the 2004 campaign, where its MP4-19 was left struggling near the back of the field, meant the outfit could manage no better than fifth overall in the constructors' championship – even though the transformed MP4-19B helped Kimi Raikkonen win in Belgium.

That fifth placed finish means that McLaren qualifies to run the third car on the Friday of grand prix weekends throughout 2005 – a factor that could prove a massive advantage. Last year BAR benefitted from the input of Anthony Davidson with its third car.

De la Rosa added: "The car is very quick, and it's so driveable. You don't have to fight the car this year, and so far we haven't had any engine problems. Reliability is good. In terms of speed, Renault are on a par with us, so we have to be careful, but we are very well prepared for the season and let's see in Melbourne.”