De la Rosa 'warns': ''Spaniards are going to give Verstappen a hard time''

De la Rosa himself is a former Formula 1 driver who mainly filled a lot of roles as a test driver for several teams, but also ended up with 104 Grands Prix starts. Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT are all on the palmares of the Spaniard, who is now mainly worried about Formula 1.

Problems in Formula 1

Last week the new budget cap of 145 million dollars was announced, but according to De la Rosa that is far from enough. ''This budget cap is still far too high if you realise that there will be much less money coming in next seasons. You have to be realistic as a sport now and make sure you survive. Anything over 100 million is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned,'' says the Spaniard.

Yet the former driver of McLaren also has a positive feeling about the future of Formula 1. With a switch from Sainz to Ferrari in 2021, the Spaniards will have another driver from their own country in a top car and that will be celebrated big. However, the question is whether Sainz is strong enough.

The Spaniards

''Spanish drivers are gonna be hard on Verstappen'', says Pedro laughing to pursue seriously. ''They are very excited about next season with Sainz at Ferrari. Carlos was very close to Max Verstappen and they consider him to be one of the best or perhaps the best F1 drivers at the moment. Sainz is a lot better than some people think'", says De la Rosa, who also addresses the possible return of Fernando Alonso.

''I really hope that he returns. The best drivers have to be in F1 and that's Alonso. He really is an animal. He really hasn't gone with a sabbatical and won't need much time to get back in. He only thinks about racing and will do everything he can to be competitive anywhere'', concludes Pedro about his compatriot.