May 8 (GMM) McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa on Thursday morning said he did not yet know if he will be stepping into Heikki Kovalainen's race cockpit for the Turkish grand prix.

"I have no idea whether I will or not," the 37-year-old is quoted as saying by the news agency EP.

Regular driver Kovalainen spent the night in a Barcelona hospital with concussion following his huge crash during the Spanish grand prix two weeks ago.

Whether or not de la Rosa, a Spaniard who is ironically from the Catalan region, will need to step up to the race cockpit in Istanbul will be determined after Kovalainen's mandatory FIA medical exam at the Otodrom venue today.

De la Rosa said: "The important thing is that Heikki recovers one hundred per cent as soon as possible.

"I have not really changed anything about my preparation, because there is always the possibility that I will race.

"The only different thing is that I have strengthened the left side of my neck more than usual, because that is particularly important at this circuit," he added.

Mercedes-Benz competition boss Norbert Haug, meanwhile, explained that de la Rosa was put on standby to replace Kovalainen because he is "the most experienced" of McLaren's backup drivers, including the Briton Gary Paffett.

The German added that Kovalainen, 26, has been feeling better "with every passing day" since he resumed training in Finland last week.