Prost denies de la Rosa signing on the cards…
Prost GP has denied that Pedro de la Rosa could drive for the team in Formula 1 this year. But sources insist that the Spaniard has already been signed as a third driver by the French squad - and that he is being lined-up to replace Gaston Mazzacane for the start of the European season
De la Rosa has been replaced at Arrows by Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi, following a breakdown in talks between the Leafield-based team and de la Rosa's main sponsor Repsol YPF.
The 29-year-old's main hope of staying in F1 had appeared to be with the back-of-the-grid Minardi team. But sources close to Prost say that Mazzacane's deal has performance-related clauses that could pave the way for de la Rosa taking a race seat as early as the start of the European season, the San Marino Grand Prix on April 15.
When asked if de la Rosa had been signed by Prost, a team spokeswoman said: "No, not at all. We've already announced our driver programme for 2001."
Commenting on whether Mazzacane's contract included performance clauses, she added that "even if there was, we don't discuss the details of our drivers' contracts."
Mazzacane has tested for the team at Barcelona, but has failed to come close to the times set by team-leader Jean Alesi. The Argentinian landed his 2001 seat on the back of new Prost sponsor South American cable TV network PSN, which also sponsored Minardi during Mazzacane's term with the Italian team last season.
PSN has apparently insisted that a Spanish-speaking driver should be one of Prost's two race drivers - a bill which the highly-rated de la Rosa also fits.
De la Rosa has also recently had a change of management, with his affairs now handled by the Stellar group and Julian Jakobi. Recently, Jakobi has played a major role in attracting sponsorship to Prost.
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