According to Madrid-based sports daily AS, Catalan Pedro de la Rosa will replace Giancarlo Fisichella at Force India in 2009. The paper claims that the deal will be announced officially in the coming weeks, and that Adrian Sutil is likely to remain with the team.

If true, team owner Vijay Mallya will have gone back on his word to retain both Fisichella and Sutil for next season, something he stated publically little over a month ago in Shanghai.

De le Rosa will test for Force India over the next two days in Barcelona, but refused to be drawn on the prospect of a permanent deal when speaking to El Mundo Deportivo:

"For now the only thing I can say is that I will test for Force India on Tuesday and Wednesday," he commented.

"That is a result of the agreement between Force India and McLaren and I'm happy to help. Besides being my job I think it [Force India] is a team with high ambitions."