De la Rosa to race for Sauber in 2010

Date published : 19 Jan 2010 - 10:32:06

Pedro de la Rosa will return to Formula 1 racing this year after securing a seat with the BMW Sauber team, the Swiss squad confirmed on Tuesday.The 38-year-old Spaniard has been McLaren's reserve and test driver for seven years, but will be back to racing in 2010 with the Hinwil-based squad.De la Rosa will join Kamui Kobayashi at the team."Pedro has spent many years working for a top team at the highest technical level," said Peter Sauber. "We as a team stand to gain from his experience, and the same goes for young Kamui. "The combination of a seasoned racer and an up-and-coming young driver has repeatedly proved a very fruitful one. I don't expect either of them to disappoint in 2010. "Of course it is also crucial that we provide them with a decent car; I feel positive about our in-house progress on that front too. We were able to continue work on our 2010 car as scheduled throughout the recent period of uncertainty."The Catalan driver last raced in Formula 1 at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, when he stood in for Juan Pablo Montoya."I always firmly believed I would be given another chance as a team driver," he said. "Since the number of test drives were radically reduced, this was what I was working towards. "I'm really excited about the season with Peter Sauber's team, which has been a solid fixture in Formula 1 ever since 1993."