Pedro de la Rosa to return with HRT in 2012

Pedro de la Rosa is back in F1 next year - with Hispania Racing Team.

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa will return to racing in 2012 after signing a two year deal with Hispania Racing Team. The 40-year old is currently McLaren's reserve driver, and has worked with the team for a long time, as a test driver, reserve driver, as well as racing in the latter part of the 2006 season.

HRT Team boss Colin Kolles said: "The addition of Pedro de la Rosa for next year will be a fundamental foundation in the development of our project. We are a young team that needs to continue progressing and with this incorporation I am convinced that we will do just that. Apart from being a great person he is an experienced driver as his career and prestige in F1 prove"



De la Rosa's last race: Canada 2011

 De la Rosa said of the deal: When deciding on joining this project, for me there were three decisive factors.My desire to return to active competition, the fact that HRT is a Spanish team and getting to know the people leading this project. I'm here to work hard, accepting where we are now but keeping in mind where we want to be in two years' time."

The young Spanish team haven't yet come close to scoring a point since their debut at Bahrain 2010, and have employed Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna, Sakon Yamamoto, Christian Klien, Narain Karthikeyan, Tonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo in their short life in Formula One.

Pedro de la Rosa hasn't raced since the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, when he stood in at Sauber for the ill Sergio Perez. Previously, de la Rosa took part in 14 races in 2010, scoring six points. Since then, he has tested for Pirelli, in particular testing their wet tyres at Abu Dhabi. The Spaniard has one podium to his name, when he finished 2nd at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.