McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa will test Pirelli tyres in a special test in Turkey planned for next weekend.
De la Rosa was the Pirelli test driver towards the end of last season and over the winter, but having since resigned for McLaren it appeared that he would be unable to continue in the role. However, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembrey said that McLaren had allowed him to participate, and that so far there had been no objections from any of the other teams.
"I've written to the tyre working group advising them that Pedro will be doing that test," Hembrey told Autosport. "I haven't had any negative feedback from them. We need to use him actually. He drove the car last year and we have modified the Toyota very heavily - going outside of the current regulations to create much higher downforce. The objective of that is to try and replicate 2010 downforce levels.
From what I understand the cars here are close to the end of 2010 levels, which is extraordinary considering the number of changes we have had. So we need him to tell us the differences between the car then and the car now, and we will go through a screening of the current products and work with the new products."
A test in Turkey is important for Pirelli as the track is notoriously hard on tyres, especially the multi-apex turn eight. Having previously said that they plan to develop an 'extra-hard' compound for this year's race, Hembrey also said that they want to check the tyres will hold up, as well as developing compounds for future years.
"The test is about working primarily for 2012, and we are working on new products too. It is also a check for us for Turkey because Turns 8 and 9 at Istanbul are a big challenge. I am not talking compound but structurally. We want to go there and have a double check to be sure."
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