2001: when Pedro De La Rosa slammed the door of Prost GP

“Funny morals, this F1 !»Wrote Patrick Camus. In February 2001, Pedro De La Rosa, then a test pilot at Cheers GP, left the French team without concession to become… Test driver at Jaguar. A story closer to a “Soap Opera” scenario than to “Games of Throne”.

A driver breaks his contract to sign for another team. The affair was unprecedented at the time. If this affair is not really a sporting problem, but rather a moral dispute, it is above all a sponsor story which bothers Alain Prost. Indeed, Pedro de la Rosa is the protégé of the large oil group Repsol. Great support for the driver and a goose that lays golden eggs for the teams.

Prost wanted De La Rosa for the long term, with the promise of a drive the following year, so what was the point for De La Rosa in leaving for Jaguar? If Prost had already promised him a place in the future, the Catalan justified his choice with a lunar response. Jaguar would be on an “upward slope”, surprising. The reason for his escape to England still seems more obvious, Jaguar offers more money to Pedro and his agent, hard to fight against a team from a major manufacturer.

It remains to be seen whether there was actually a contract signed between De La Rosa and Prost GP. Well no, only “promises” made by Prost, even if the rumor of a letter of intent has emerged. De La Rosa defends himself: “Nothing I did for Prost has contractual value.” So yes, but what about morality? According to Pedro de la Rosa, nothing was official, the official photo nor the official press release really were!

Fired from Arrows before the start of the season, dispute at Prost GP subsequently, De La Rosa therefore played the 2001 season at Jaguar. A difficult season to say the least for the Catalan who encountered a lot of technical problems and the 2002 season was even worse. Ultimately wouldn't he have done better at Prost GP? This story reflects a trend in motorsport, it is always complicated to fight against a factory team, at least financially.