Pedro de la Rosa | |
|---|---|
 De la Rosa at the2010 Malaysian Grand Prix | |
| Born | Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (1971-02-24)24 February 1971 (age 54) Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Bruno del Pino (nephew) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Spanish |
| Active years | 1999–2002,2005–2006,2010–2012 |
| Teams | Arrows,Jaguar,McLaren,Sauber,HRT |
| Entries | 107 (104 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Careerpoints | 35 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1999 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Formula Nippon career | |
| Years active | 1996–1997 |
| Teams | Nova |
| Starts | 20 |
| Championships | 1 (1997) |
| Wins | 6 |
| Podiums | 11 |
| Poles | 5 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| JGTC career | |
| Years active | 1996–1997 |
| Teams | TOM'S |
| Starts | 12 |
| Championships | 1 (1997) |
| Wins | 2 |
| Podiums | 6 |
| Poles | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 1st in1997(GT500) |
Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈpeðɾoðelaˈrosa]; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish formerracing driver,motorsport executive andbroadcaster, who competed inFormula One between1999 and2012.[a] InJapanese motorsport, de la Rosa won theFormula Nippon Championship and theAll-Japan GT Championship, both in 1997.
Born and raised inBarcelona, De la Rosa began his career inradio-controlled racing, winning several national and continental titles before moving intokarting aged 17. He participated in 107 Grands Prix for theArrows,Jaguar,McLaren,Sauber andHRT teams. He made his Formula One debut at the1999 Australian Grand Prix, scoring a point in his first race. He scored a total of 35 championship points, which includes a podium finish at the2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. He is the first Spanish racing driver to win a National Championship in Japanese open-wheel racing history, won theJapanese Super Formula Championship (formerly Formula Nippon Championship) and theSuper GT (formerlyJGTC) in 1997.
Upon retiring from motor racing, de la Rosa became acommentator andpundit forLa Sexta,Telecinco,Movistar andDAZN. He foundedDrivex in 2005, and served as technical and sporting director ofTecheetah inFormula E during the2018–19 season, winning theFormula E Teams' Championship. He has also been an ambassador forAston Martin since 2022.
De la Rosa was born inBarcelona,Catalonia, Spain, and unlike most drivers, he started his career inradio-controlled cars, specialising in 1:8 off-road. He won three consecutive domestic championship titles between 1983 and 1985,[1][2] he became the first multipleEuropean radio controlled off-road championship twice in 1983 and 1984[3][4] and was runner up in the inauguralworld championship in 1986.[5] It was only after that that he startedkarting 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 SpanishFormula Ford 1600 and became champion. He later drove in BritishFormula 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 theJapanese Formula Three series and third in theMacau Grand Prix. In 1996, he finished eighth in both theFormula Nippon andAll Japan GT Championship. The next year, he was the champion in Formula Nippon. He was also the All Japan GT Champion withMichael Krumm.
In1998, de la Rosa was a test driver forJordan. The next year, he joinedArrows and scored one world championship point by finishing sixth in his debut race, theAustralian Grand Prix. He regularly outpaced his more experienced teammateToranosuke Takagi. In 2000, he remained at Arrows alongside DutchmanJos 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'.[6] 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 channelITV in 2001.[7]
De la Rosa raced for two years withJaguar Racing alongsideEddie 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 withAntônio Pizzonia.[8]
De la Rosa became atest driver forMcLaren but raced at the2005 Bahrain Grand Prix whenJuan Pablo Montoya injured his shoulder. He finished fifth and set a lap record which he still holds as of 2025[update].
On 11 July 2006, it was announced that de la Rosa would take over the second McLaren race seat with immediate effect followingJuan Pablo Montoya's departure toNASCAR. It was initially unclear whether he would remain in the seat until the end of the season, but some successful results led to him being retained.
At the2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, de la Rosa scored his first and only Formula One podium, finishing in second place behindJenson Button.
After a long period of speculation as to who would beFernando Alonso's teammate in2007,Lewis Hamilton secured the seat. De la Rosa would carry on as the team's test driver.
For the2005 season, de la Rosa combined his testing duties with providing race commentary for Spanish broadcasterTelecinco. After his absence in 2006, he returned to the microphone in 2007.
Reports in 2007 consistently linked de la Rosa to a return to F1 racing with the newProdrive team, which was set to make its debut in the2008 season. Speculation suggested that Prodrive would run with support from the McLaren team, and that de la Rosa, along with fellow testerGary Paffett, would race for them in their maiden season. However, the team failed to make the grid for the new season, and De la Rosa instead remained as a test driver for McLaren.
De la Rosa was also involved in theespionage controversy surrounding his team and rivals Ferrari. With evidence provided by him and teammateFernando Alonso, theFIA excluded the team from the 2007 Constructors' Championship, and issued a record fine of $100 million. He was understood to have sent e-mails to Mike Coughlan and Fernando Alonso regarding the Ferrari cars' setup.[9]
Before theAustralian Grand Prix of 2008, de la Rosa was elected as the new chairman of theGrand Prix Drivers' Association after a unanimous vote. De la Rosa was the preferred candidate for GPDA directorsMark Webber andFernando Alonso. He replaced the retiredRalf Schumacher in the role.[10] He remained at McLaren in 2009, and as of January 2010 was the fifth most experienced test driver in history, in terms of test days.[11] He stated that he wished to step down from the role of GPDA chairman, following the completion of his deal to drive forSauber in 2010, and was duly replaced in the role byNick Heidfeld at theAustralian Grand Prix.[12]
In 2010, de la Rosa drove for the newly resurrected Sauber team.[13] His teammate atSauber was Japanese driverKamui Kobayashi who impressed atToyota during the last two races of the2009 Formula One season.
De la Rosa finished seven of the thirteen races he started in the2010 season, and picked up six points from a single points-scoring finish, a seventh-place finish at theHungarian Grand Prix.[14] These points would be the last of his Formula One career. De la Rosa qualified in the top-ten on two occasions, atSilverstone and in Hungary, as both he and teammate Kobayashi struggled with reliability problems for the majority of the season.
De la Rosa was dropped from his race seat by Sauber in favour of Nick Heidfeld after the Italian Grand Prix.[15] De la Rosa replaced Heidfeld as test driver forPirelli, in anticipation for their return toFormula One for the2011 season.[16]
AfterSergio Pérez's accident in Monaco, de la Rosa replaced him forSauber at theCanadian Grand Prix, after Pérez decided, after the first free practice session on Friday, to sit out the rest of the weekend.[17] De la Rosa managed to stay out of trouble throughout the first part of the race, affected by heavy rain, running as high as ninth before a red flag suspended the race. He eventually finished 12th after having some contact soon after the restart, which required a new wing.
On 9 March 2011,McLaren announced that de la Rosa had returned to the team as their test and reserve driver.[18]
On 21 November 2011, it was announced that de la Rosa had signed forHRT F1 on a two-year contract.[19] His teammate was Indian driverNarain Karthikeyan.[20] Both drivers failed to qualify for thefirst race of the season in Australia, as de la Rosa was only able to complete seven timed laps during the race weekend.[21] At thenext race weekend in Malaysia, he was able to qualify and finish 22nd in the race after receiving a drive through penalty after the race was restarted, and he was later promoted to 21st place due to Karthikeyan's 20-second penalty for an incident withSebastian Vettel.
De la Rosa qualified ahead of Karthikeyan once again inChina, and finished 21st, one lap down from the race winner. InBahrain, he finished 20th after qualifying 22nd, although after the race he admitted that the team still needed "to gain some speed per lap" to fight their rivals consistently.[22] Following on from this, de la Rosa finishedhis home race for the first time since1999 in 19th place, the last of all classified drivers. However, he was unable to complete theMonaco Grand Prix due to a collision withPastor Maldonado at the beginning of the race.[23]
De la Rosa had a contract to compete in the 2013 season with HRT and was due to become team principal for 2014.[24] The team folded at the end of the 2012 season, meaning de la Rosa was unable to take either position.
On 16 January,Ferrari announced that de la Rosa had been signed in a developmental role for the team, aiding with its simulator resources.[25]On 24 January Ferrari announced that De la Rosa would share testing duties of their 2013 challenger, theF138, withFelipe Massa at the first test of the season, beginning on 5 February inJerez.[26]
In 2005, de la Rosa founded feeder series outfitDrivex with Miguel Ángel de Castro. The team has been successful, with their biggest achievement being winning the2019 F4 Spanish Championship teams' and drivers' title with currentAlpine Formula One driverFranco Colapinto.
De la Rosa served as the technical and sporting director ofTecheetah inFormula E during the2018–19 season.[27]
De la Rosa also runs a driving school and racing team calledDrivex.[28]
In October 2022, de la Rosa was appointed ambassador forAston Martin Formula One Team.[29]
De la Rosa has also worked as a colour analyst for Formula One broadcasts on La Sexta, Telecinco, Movistar and currently DAZN.[citation needed]
De la Rosa has one daughter. His nephewBruno del Pino is also a racing driver, who previously drove for hisDrivex team.[30]
(Races inbold indicate top qualifier)
| Year | Result | Class | Venue | Entrant | Car | Motor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 2 | 1:8 IC Off-Road | Grenoble | Garbo España | Garbo Gepard 3 | Picco |
| Year | Result | Class | Venue | Entrant | Car | Motor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 1 | 1:8 IC Off-Road | France | Yankee Enduro 84x4 | Picco | |
| 1984 | 1 | 1:8 IC Off-Road | Sweden | Yankee Enduro 84x4 | Picco |
| Year | Result | Class | Venue | Entrant | Car | Motor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 1 | 1:8 IC Off-Road | Garbo | Picco | ||
| 1984 | 1 | 1:8 IC Off-Road | Garbo | Picco | ||
| 1983 | 1 | 1:8 IC Off-Road | Garbo | Picco |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | West Surrey Racing | Mugen-Honda | A | SIL 5 | THR 3 | BRH DNS | DON 3 | BRH 4 | SIL 4 | OUL 5 | DON Ret | SIL 7 | DON Ret | SNE NC | PEM 8 | SIL Ret | SIL Ret | THR 7 | 7th | 18 | |||
| 1994 | Racing for Spain | Renault | A | SIL 16 | DON 11 | BRH 16 | BRH 9 | SIL 14 | SIL Ret | BRH Ret | THR 15 | OUL 16 | DON Ret | SIL 11 | SNE 11 | PEM 16 | PEM 13 | SIL Ret | SIL DNS | THR 16 | SIL 8 | 19th | 6 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | TOM's | Toyota | SUZ 1 | FUJ C | TSU 2 | MIN 1 | SUZ 1 | TAI 1 | SUG 1 | FUJ 1 | SUZ 1 | SEN 1 | 1st | 54 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Team Nova | SUZ 5 | MIN 7 | FUJ 6 | TOK 6 | SUZ Ret | SUG 11 | FUJ 6 | MIN Ret | SUZ 5 | FUJ 2 | 8th | 13 |
| 1997 | Team Nova | SUZ 1 | MIN 1 | FUJ 2 | SUZ 3 | SUG 1 | FUJ 1 | MIN 2 | MOT 1 | FUJ 2 | SUZ 1 | 1st | 82 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Supra | GT500 | SUZ 5 | FUJ 2 | SEN 3 | FUJ Ret | SUG 9 | MIN Ret | 8th | 38 | |
| 1997 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Supra | GT500 | SUZ 14 | FUJ 3 | SEN 1 | FUJ 2 | MIN 1 | SUG 15 | 1st | 67 | |
| 1998 | NISMO | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ | FUJ C | SEN | FUJ | MOT | MIN | SUG | NC | 0 |
(key)
Massa will be behind the wheel for the first three days of the opening four-day session, with newly-signed test driver Pedro de la Rosa making his first appearance in red on the final day.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Formula Renault UK Champion 1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Eurocup Formula Renault Champion 1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Japanese Formula 3 Championship Champion 1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Formula Nippon Champion 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 Champion 1997 With:Michael Krumm | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by | GPDA Chairman 2008–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GPDA Chairman 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
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