De la Rosa: 'Watch out for Toyota'

Spanish Grand Prix star Pedro de la Rosa has warned the rest of Formula 1 not to underestimate the new Toyota Formula 1 team when the new season kicks off next year

The Jaguar driver reckons the Japanese manufacturer will be more competitive than it has made out, and that drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish are up to the job of helping the team develop.

"Toyota has been testing throughout the year, they did so at the end of the season in Japan and although they say they're going to be way behind all of us in the world championship, I'm convinced they are going to perform better than expected," he said. "So keep an eye on those guys: they're a very big and organised team and I'm sure they're going to improve a lot."

On the drivers, he said: "McNish is new in the business, although he is a good driver and I'm sure he will soon adapt to it. Regarding Salo, I have no doubts about his talent."

De la Rosa also spoke out against the winter testing ban which doesn't come to an end until January. "I think we've got too many holidays this year," he said. "As usual, limiting the testing period is only going to help the bigger teams. The smaller ones can only get closer to the top through testing as they're not going to have as many hours in the wind tunnel."