De la Rosa still eyeing racing drive

The Spaniard has been a test driver for the Woking-based team since 2003 and competed for half a season in 2006 in the wake of Juan Pablo Montoya's mid-season switch to NASCAR - scoring a runner-up finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

More recently he has been linked with a race seat at the Force India team, who have a technical partnership with McLaren, and says he remains bullish about his chances of getting more races under his belt.

"It is the usual story," he said on stage at the Autosport International Show when asked about his desire to return to racing. "Why I am here with McLaren? It is mainly because I want to be with the best team to F1, and it is the closest link to being an F1 race driver.

"At the moment, at my age, if I put one step in a different category I know my chances of getting back into a full race drive are very, very slim.

"So I have to be with the best and I have to test for the best and become a more intelligent, complete test driver. That is my only chance to come back, but for sure one day I will come back."

De la Rosa insists, however, that he has every intention of remaining at McLaren for as long as possible.

"I enjoy every minute. I've been with McLaren since 2003 and I have been learning a lot from the best engineers I have ever worked with.

"Every day I am better thanks to them. I enjoy my work and I still think that McLaren can win a lot more world championships in the future and I hope to continue to be involved in all of them."