Montoya Dashed de la Rosa's Hopes

One look from Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya on Saturday morning dashed Pedro de la Rosa's slim hopes of racing for McLaren in his home Spanish Formula One Grand Prix

Montoya, returning after a two-race absence with a shoulder injury, crashed heavily in practice on Friday and De la Rosa admitted that he arrived at the Circuit de Catalunya the next morning with a faint hope that he might be summoned as a replacement.

"Of course I would like to be racing," said the Spaniard, who replaced Montoya in Bahrain and finished fifth.

"I have been waiting until the very last moment to see how Juan Pablo was doing.

"I've been asking him every day how he was feeling and until this morning I was prepared, I got here before them today just waiting.

"You never know how he was going to wake up so I looked at his face this morning and he said 'Don't get changed'."

De la Rosa could still take pride in setting the fastest laps in both the previous day's practice sessions as the third driver allowed to run on Fridays only.

 

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