Mar.3 (GMM) F1's ever-tightening test restrictions are potentially dangerous, McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa insists.
The veteran Spaniard, also president of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), said the limited pre-season miles and the total ban on in-season track development means reserve drivers will be "rusty" if they are called upon to race at grands prix."We could be a problem in the safety aspect if you haven't driven enough," the 38-year-old said at this week's Jerez test, according to the Daily Telegraph.The last time de la Rosa contested grands prix was in former team regular Juan Pablo Montoya's seat in 2006, but he said the test regulations were very different then."The only thing I was not used to was to take a start, but this year the situation would be very different if I have to replace a driver mid-season, because I will have been four or five months without having driven an F1 car, with the problems that brings to the rest," he explained.De la Rosa even doubts the testing limitations will succeed in drastically cutting costs, with teams turning instead to expensive wind tunnel, simulator and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)."I think that testing is the cheapest way to develop a car," he said. "That's my opinion."
