Eric Boullier confirms discussions with De la Rosa
The Frenchman confirmed today that he has been in contact with the Spanish driver with a view to replacing Robert Kubica.
Following Robert Kubica’s accident and his unavailability for the coming months, the Lotus Renault GP team will conduct tests with Nick Heidfeld in Jerez to determine if the German driver is capable of replacing his former teammate at BMW-Sauber.
However, Eric Boullier, the team principal of the Enstone-based team in England, today confirmed having had discussions with Pedro de la Rosa: “I have indeed talked a little with Pedro de la Rosa, but following the evaluation with Nick Heidfeld, we will see if we need to go further in the discussions with Pedro.” This confirmation from the Frenchman positions De la Rosa as a credible replacement, perhaps at the expense of drivers such as Vitantonio Liuzzi or Christien Klien, names already mentioned as potential replacements for Kubica.
If this possibility became reality, the Spaniard could have another chance in F1 for the second consecutive year, after being hired by Peter Sauber in 2010 and scoring 6 points in 14 starts that season… But things haven’t reached that point yet.
Finally, while Nick Heidfeld remains the safest option to replace Robert Kubica for all or part of the 2011 F1 season, an unpleasant surprise is always possible in a discipline of such a level. Eric Boullier must therefore consider all possible scenarios…
