Pedro de la Rosa has revealed that he had just a ten-minute warning before he’d been drafted in at Sauber to replace the ‘unwell’ Sergio Perez.
The McLaren reserve driver explained that Sauber CEO, Monisha Kaltenborn, arrived at the McLaren motorhome to request his presence at Sauber, with just ten minutes before the start of the second practice session.
“I was finishing lunch when Monisha Kaltenborn showed up at McLaren and asked me, ‘are you ready?’ I checked my watch and it was ten to two and I said ‘but there’s 10 minutes to the start of the session!'”
The Spaniard couldn’t alter the pedals to suit his height, but the Sauber team had previously spoken to McLaren about the arrangement if Perez was unable to race, therefore his race seat from last year was flown out to Canada, which De la Rosa says is ‘vital’.
“It was a crazy race to get my helmet, my overalls, my things at McLaren, sit in the car, and set up the pedals where I wanted. But we couldn’t do it, and we had to go out with the pedals where they were.
“We could use my seat from last year which was absolutely very, very important and vital,” he explained. “As far as all the rest is concerned, I went out with my McLaren overalls, boots and helmet.”
De la Rosa managed the 18th quickest time, but spent much of the session in the pitlane as he attempted to get comfortable in a car he has never driven. He has also never used DRS or KERS.
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