Prost in talks with de la Rosa

De la Rosa was left high and dry when Arrows announced it was replacing him with Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi last week, after Tom Walkinshaw's team was unable to agree terms with Pedro's sponsor Repsol. The Spaniard was immediately linked with Prost as a replacement for its second driver Gaston Mazzacane, should the Argentinian fail to cut the mustard with the French team.

"We are looking for a third driver, obviously - a reserve driver, so we are talking to him," said Prost about de la Rosa. "It's very interesting. He's by far the best choice possible. But to be very honest, I don't like very much all the rumours [about him taking over from Mazzacane], or the way they were done. I don't want to comment because I don't want to comment about the contracts or anything."

Prost also admitted that he has spoken to de la Rosa in the past about driving for his Guyancourt-based outfit, but he was signed to Arrows at the time: "Yes, we asked him to be one of our drivers and we made a proposition, but he had a contract."

Prost's major new sponsor, the South American cable TV network PSN, is believed to favour a Spanish-speaking driver in the team, which is the main reason for Mazzacane's inclusion. Prost remained coy on the topic that de la Rosa would fit its bill nicely.

"Yes, but that's a different subject," he said. "At the moment, we have Mazzacane as a race driver. If de la Rosa does [race for us this year], it will be for exceptional reasons. We cannot talk about something that's not happening, but we are interested in him."