Pedro News Opciones

[pca]

3/23/05

TEST REPORT PAUL RICARD, DAY 1

Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Location: Paul Ricard, France
Drivers: Alex Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa
Weather: Overcast early morning, sunny from mid morning with blustery spells
Track temperature approx. 19 degrees
Air temperature 15 degrees
Laps run: Pedro de la Rosa 129 laps, Alex Wurz 117 laps
Kilometres covered: Pedro de la Rosa 493 km Alex Wurz 447 km
Best lap time of the day: Anthony Davidson, BAR Honda, 1m04.176s
Best lap time of Team McLaren Mercedes driver: Pedro de la Rosa, 1m04.305s (fourth)
Duration of test: Three days

Team McLaren Mercedes began a three day test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France today with both Alex Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa behind the wheel of MP4-19Bs.

The focus of this week’s test is on tyres, with Alex’s programme today concentrating on finalising the Michelin tyres the team will use at the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix.

Pedro meanwhile was focusing on tyre testing for the first European race of the season, the San Marino Grand Prix, and he completed his planned programme without any problems.

Pedro completed 129 laps of the circuit with a fastest time of 1m04.305s, while Alex completed 117 laps with a fastest time of 1m04.613s.

Alex Wurz

“Today was a productive day in which I completed 117 laps. We have to confirm our tyre choices for the Bahrain race today and we completed the planned programme without any issues.”

Pedro de la Rosa

“Whilst Alex was concentrating on Bahrain, I was focusing on the San Marino Grand Prix, which marks a return for Formula One to Europe. The test was very productive today without any problems and I am looking forward to continuing the programme tomorrow alongside Alex.”

Alex and Pedro will both continue the team’s testing programme tomorrow, focusing on tyre choice for the San Marino Grand Prix.

Source: www.mclaren.co.uk

[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.”