Pedro de la Rosa

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Born and raised in Barcelona, De la Rosa began his career in radio-controlled racing, winning several national and continental titles before moving into karting aged 17. He participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut at the 1999 Australian Grand Prix, scoring a point in his first race. He scored a total of 35 championship points, which includes a podium finish at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. He is the first Spanish racing driver to win a National Championship in Japanese open-wheel racing history, won the Japanese Super Formula Championship (formerly Formula Nippon Championship) and the Super GT (formerly JGTC) in 1997. Upon retiring from motor racing, De la Rosa became a commentator and pundit for La Sexta, Telecinco, Movistar and DAZN. He founded Drivex in 2005, and served as technical and sporting director of Techeetah in Formula E during the 2018–19 season, winning the Formula E Teams' Championship. He has also been an ambassador for Aston Martin since 2022.

In Their Own Story

The defining chapter of de la Rosa's F1 career unfolded at McLaren, where he served as a test driver from 2003. His first race appearance with the team occurred at the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix after Juan Pablo Montoya injured his shoulder; de la Rosa finished fifth and set a lap record that stood as of 2025. Following Montoya's departure to NASCAR in July 2006, de la Rosa took over the second race seat immediately. His most celebrated moment arrived at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished second behind Jenson Button, securing his only podium in Formula One. He also played a critical role off the track during the 2007 espionage controversy, providing evidence that led to Ferrari's exclusion from the Constructors' Championship and a record $100 million fine. As GPDA chairman elected before the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, he replaced Ralf Schumacher, representing drivers until his departure for Sauber in 2010.

Reader's Guide

De la Rosa was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and unlike most drivers, he started his career in radio-controlled cars, specialising in 1:8 off-road. He won three consecutive domestic championship titles between 1983 and 1985, he became the first multiple European radio controlled off-road championship twice in 1983 and 1984 and was runner up in the inaugural world championship in 1986. It was only after that that he started karting in a local Spanish championship in 1988 when he was 17. He then joined the Spanish Formula Fiat Uno and became champion in 1989. In 1990, De la Rosa raced in Spanish Formula Ford 1600 and became champion. He later drove in British Formula Ford 1600 and got two podiums out of six races. In 1991, de la Rosa achieved fourth place in the Spanish Formula Renault Championship with three podium finishes. In 1992, he was both European and British Formula Renault champion. He slipped down the order in the next two years. In 1995, he was champion of the Japanese Formula Three series and third in the Macau Grand Prix. In 1996, he finished eighth in both the Formula Nippon and All Japan GT Championship. The next year, he was the champion in Formula Nippon. He was also the All Japan GT Champion with Michael Krumm. In 2005 he also won the Race of Stars. In 1998, De la Rosa was a test driver for Jordan. The next year, he joined Arrows and scored one world championship point by finishing sixth in his debut race, the Australian Grand Prix. He regularly outpaced his more experienced teammate Toranosuke Takagi. In 2000, he remained at Arrows alongside Dutchman Jos Verstappen. He scored two points, finishing sixth in the German Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix. Verstappen commented mid-season that he and De la Rosa 'work well together and we have a good partnership'. During the 2000 season, the Arrows team took part in a 13-part TV series named 'Racing Arrows' which followed the team and drivers throughout the year. It was shown on the British TV channel ITV in 2001. De la Rosa raced for two years with Jaguar Racing alongside Eddie Irvine, scoring three points in 2001 and none in 2002. At the end of the 2002 season, Jaguar paid off his contract which was set to expire at the conclusion of 2003, replacing him with Antônio Pizzonia. De la Rosa became a test driver for McLaren but raced at the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix when Juan Pablo Montoya

Did You Know?

• De la Rosa won the All-Japan GT Championship in 1997 alongside Michael Krumm.
• He scored his only Formula One podium at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing second.
• He was elected chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association in 2008.
• He provided evidence in the 2007 espionage controversy that led to McLaren's exclusion from the Constructors' Championship and a $100 million fine.