Pedro de la Rosa takes Sergio Perez’s place in Canada
2011 Canadian Grand Prix
Pedro de la Rosa, Sauber, Montreal, 2011
Pedro de la Rosa will take Sergio Perez’s place at Sauber for the rest of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
Perez was passed fit to race yesterday, following his crash in Monaco. But he reported he was feeling unwell after the first practice session this morning.
He said: “Of course I wanted to drive and I had no doubt I was alright. But apparently this is unfortunately not the case.
“I am deeply disappointed. I spoke to the team after the session and told them that I’m not a hundred per cent fit. I only want to drive when I’m a hundred per cent well. I need some more time to recover.”
Team principal Peter Sauber said: “This development hit us by surprise, because Sergio underwent thorough medical checks, first in the hospital in Monaco, then in a hospital in Zürich, and finally, the FIA doctors gave him the green light this Thursday in Montreal.
“Nobody could have foreseen that he would feel unwell. Maybe we are being overly cautious, but when it’s about the health of our drivers we take zero risks.”
De la Rosa started 14 races for Sauber last year before being replaced by Nick Heidfeld.
He is one of McLaren’s test and reserve drivers.
2011 Canadian Grand Prix
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Image © Sauber F1 Team
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 11th June 2011, 0:26
Sounds like Sauber had planned ahead for this contingency which was why they had his seat on hand this weekend: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92164
BasCB (@bascb) said on 11th June 2011, 8:00
Yeah, they might have given Pedro a call in the last week, just to be sure.
After all, Perez had the last FIA check only on Thurday, so had they not cleared him Sauber would have needed a replacement anyhow.
Héctor said on 11th June 2011, 0:37
If you go to Sauber’s website under the “Drivers” section you’ll see 3 names:
Kamui, Sergio and Esteban… I like Pedro but… They should’ve put Esteban in a plane inmediately!… strange move.
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 11th June 2011, 3:21
Good luck for him but why didn’t they replace Perez with another Mexican test driver Esteban Gutierrez. He showed some good pace during the testing session,yes Pedro have the experience but it’s opportunity like this that will help this young driver to show their talent.
moose said on 11th June 2011, 20:06
or kill his career. He is not ready.
Eggry (@eggry) said on 11th June 2011, 7:24
Mclaren suit in Ferrari engined car.