De la Rosa not feeling under pressure

The Spaniard has been drafted in as a late replacement for Juan Pablo Montoya, who was dropped from the race team after signing a deal to switch to NASCAR next year.

And although he only has a guarantee of the race drive until the Hungarian Grand Prix, after which McLaren have said they will sit down and consider their future options, de la Rosa has said he is calm about his future.

"The pressure is only from myself, to show what I can do," he told autosport.com.  "I will do whatever I can do and I am going to work on myself to get the best out of me - that is it. Anything else doesn't matter.

"I am very happy. I have been happy with this team since I joined them, and there is no difference now. This opportunity is just a nice chance, a nice bonus for me. If it comes off well then that is great, but even if it doesn't then it does not matter.

"I do not feel the need to demonstrate to anyone. I am aware there is a certain pressure coming from the media, but it does not affect me. It does not worry me at all. We will find out all in November and then we will talk."

De la Rosa is understood to be facing competition from both Gary Paffett and Lewis Hamilton for the drive at McLaren, and there is a chance that either of the young Briton's could be drafted in either later this year or for 2007.

Despite the speculation, however, de la Rosa is happy to sit back and wait - and thinks it will be a waste of his efforts if he worries about the competition he is facing for the seat.

"I am not expecting anything and asking for anything, as there are so many factors that could affect the team, and there are so many things the team does not still know," he explained. "So it is impossible to think more about the future.

"I do not know what is going to happen, the team does not know. Only time will tell. Kimi has to think and decide, and the only thing I know is that I have to do the best I can for the team until whenever I am told.

"I am not guaranteed to race until the end of the season, but only for the coming races, and they are the ones I am working on. There is an air of calmness about it and no hurry, no worry and no questions."

De la Rosa thinks that his future hopes will be best served by just focusing on the present - because that will be the best way of improving his own performances and the speed of the team.

"I have to think I can change things, and that I can change things for the better," he said. "I am thinking about Hockenheim now and after I have done that I will think about the following race, that is all. It is the best way to go about things.

"There is no point in thinking about anything else, and there is no meaning to think about things so far ahead. It will not do me any good. I am just thinking about the present and enjoying it.   This is something that is so exceptional - to be able to compete in such a competitive team like McLaren in F1. If there is anything more, then it is a bonus."