» De la Rosa returning to McLaren?

Despite having earlier been linked with a race seat at the Hispania Racing outfit, it would seem that Pedro de la Rosa may make a return to McLaren as the Woking squad’s test driver for the 2011 season.

The 39-year-old was dumped midway through his comeback season with Sauber, and despite being confirmed as Pirelli’s tyre development test driver for the remainder of the year, he has continued his push to get back on the F1 grid.

However, de la Rosa is certainly wise to the current economic situation, and recently recognised that many of the still-vacant seats on the 2011 grid are “reserved for drivers that come with a sponsor”.

But Spain’s Diario AS newspaper is claiming that 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton is pressuring McLaren team management to rehire the Barcelona driver as its test driver.

“I am calm because I know what I’ll do if I don’t find a team to race with,” de la Rosa hinted to the newspaper.

[Original image via XPB]