Mar.4 (GMM) Pedro de la Rosa has confirmed he had talks with Renault when the team was contemplating injured Robert Kubica’s replacement.
The Enstone based team ultimately plumped for another F1 veteran, Nick Heidfeld, but boss Eric Boullier said recently that Vitantonio Liuzzi was also a candidate.
“I talked a little with Pedro de la Rosa,” said the Frenchman.
40-year-old de la Rosa confirmed: “What I said to Renault when they called me was ‘I have experience, I’m fast and I don’t need 200 laps to know what to change in a car to make it competitive’.”
His alternative plans for the 2011 are not known, but de la Rosa has said he wants to stay in F1 in some capacity, perhaps as a reserve driver or with Pirelli.
“My expectations are to stay as an active driver in F1 for three more years,” he said in a Spanish language interview on his official website.
“In the end, everything depends on how you are physically. Now I’m very strong, probably better than when I was 20,” insisted de la Rosa.
He admits he has made some wrong moves in F1.
“My biggest mistakes were two,” he said. “The first was being tester with Jordan (in 1998) without getting many laps. I should have tried to convince Repsol to enter as a racer with a modest team.
“The second mistake was signing for Jaguar (in 2001), a team with a big budget but minimal infrastructure. When I was there it was the only team in the championship without a wind tunnel.
“I got into the wrong car and I’m still trying to find the right one,” he joked.
