De la Rosa to finish season with McLaren

UPDATE This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today. Pedro de la Rosa will be racing the final three races with McLaren. The team's managing director Martin Whitmarsh confirmed in the Spanish media the Spaniard will be racing for the team in China, Japan and Brazil. Whitmarsh said: "It makes sense to choose Pedro. He won three titles in Japan (F3, F3000 and GT) and knows the track in Japan very well."

09/11/06 (GMM) Pedro de la Rosa is not certain that he is going to retain the McLaren race seat for the remaining three grands prix of 2006.

Team principal Ron Dennis said prior to Monza that it is 'most likely' that Spaniard de la Rosa would race in China, Japan and Brazil in the role vacated earlier this year by Juan Pablo Montoya.

But de la Rosa, 35, told newspaper 'Marca': ''Officially nobody has told me how it is going to be.''

His only real opponent for the ride is 21-year-old rookie Lewis Hamilton, who at Monza wrapped up his GP2 title.

But Dennis has said that any grand prix debutant needs 'thousands of kilometers' of testing under his belt, while Briton Hamilton will conduct his first real formula one runs for McLaren later this month.