Pedro de la Rosa
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| Pedro de la Rosa | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nationality |  Spanish |
| Car # | |
| Current team | McLaren |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Races | 72 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 1 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Career points | 29 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First race | 1999 Australian Grand Prix |
| Latest race | 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 2006 position | 11th (19 pts) |
Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (born February 24, 1971 in Barcelona, Spain) is a Spanish Formula One driver, currently the test driver and reserve driver for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. De la Rosa has participated in 72 Grands Prix, debuting on March 7, 1999, becoming one of very few drivers to score a point at his first race. He scored a total of 29 championship points, which included a podium finish at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Unlike most drivers, de la Rosa started his career in European radio controlled off-road cars. He won the European radio controlled off-road car Championship twice between 1983 and 1987. It was only after that when 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.
[edit] Professional career
In 1990, de le Rosa joined the Spanish Formula Ford 1600 and became champion. He also joined the British Formula Renault 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 won both the European and British Formula Renault. However, he slipped down the order in the next two years. In 1995, he was champion of the Japanese Formula 3 series and third in the Macau Grand Prix. In 1996, he finished 8th in both the Formula Nippon F3000 and All Japan GT Championship. The next year he was champion of the Formula Nippon F3000. He was also the Japan All GT Champion.
[edit] To Formula One
In 1998, de la Rosa shifted to the Formula One series as a test driver for Jordan. The next year, he joined Arrows and scored only one point in the driver's standings. He picked the point up in the Australian Grand Prix, his début race. In 2000, he bettered his performance by one point scoring at both Hockenheim and Nürburgring. For the next two years, he joined Jaguar Racing, having a difficult relationship with the team's lead driver Eddie Irvine. He scored 3 points in 2001 but went pointless in 2002 and was dropped in 2003 (along with Irvine, who retired).
He became a test driver for McLaren and made a points scoring debut at the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix when Juan Pablo Montoya injured his shoulder. He came fifth and also set the fastest lap in the race.
On July 11, 2006 it was announced that de la Rosa would take over the second McLaren race seat with immediate effect following Juan Pablo Montoya's departure to NASCAR. 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 the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2006 de la Rosa scored his first ever podium, coming 2nd behind Jenson Button.
After a long period of speculation as to who would be Fernando Alonso's team-mate in 2007, Lewis Hamilton secured the seat. De la Rosa would carry on as the team's test driver. [1]
For the 2005 season he combined his testing duties with providing race commentary for Spanish broadcaster Telecinco. After his absence in 2006 he is once again behind the mic in 2007.
Reports in 2007 consistently linked de la Rosa to a return to F1 racing with the new Prodrive team, which was set to make their debut in the 2008 campaign. Speculation suggested that Prodrive would run with support from the McLaren team, and that de la Rosa, along with fellow tester Gary Paffett would race for them in their maiden season. However, the team failed to make the grid for the new season, and for 2008 De la Rosa has remained as a test driver for McLaren.
De la Rosa was also involved in the espionage controversy surrounding his team and rivals Ferrari. With evidence provided by him and team-mate Fernando Alonso, the FIA excluded the team from the 2007 Constructors' Championship, and issued a record breaking fine of $100 million. He was understood to have sent e-mails to Mike Coughlan and Fernando Alonso regarding the Ferrari cars setup.[2]
Before the Australian Grand Prix of 2008, Pedro de la Rosa was elected as the new chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association after a unanimous vote. De la Rosa was the preferred candidate for GPDA directors Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso. He replaces the retired Ralf Schumacher in the role.[3]
[edit] Racing record
[edit] Career summary
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Final Placing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Spanish Formula Fiat | Ofensiva Uno - Meycom | 7 | ? | 2 | ? | 1st |
| 1990 | Spanish Formula Ford | Racing for Spain | 10 | ? | 8 | ? | 1st |
| British Formula Ford | Racing for Spain | 6 | ? | 0 | ? | ? | |
| Formula Ford Festival | ? | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 12th | |
| 1991 | Spanish Formula Renault | Racing for Spain | 10 | ? | 0 | ? | 4th |
| 1992 | Formula Renault Europe | Racing for Spain | 3 | ? | 2 | ? | 1st |
| Formula Renault Great Britain | Racing for Spain | 14 | 0 | 3 | 153 | 1st | |
| 1993 | British Formula Three | West Surrey Racing | 14 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 6th |
| Macau Grand Prix | West Surrey Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | |
| Masters of Formula Three | West Surrey Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 9th | |
| 1994 | British Formula Three | Racing for Spain | 17 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 19th |
| 1995 | All-Japan Formula Three | TOM'S | 9 | 8 | 8 | 54 | 1st |
| Macau Grand Prix | TOM'S | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 3rd | |
| 1996 | Formula Nippon | Team Nova | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 8th |
| Macau Grand Prix | Paul Stewart Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7th | |
| 1997 | Formula Nippon | Team Nova | 10 | 4 | 6 | 82 | 1st |
| All-Japan GT Championship | TOM'S | 6 | ? | 2 | ? | 1st | |
| 1998 | Formula One | Jordan | Test driver | ||||
| 1999 | Formula One | Arrows | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18th |
| 2000 | Formula One | Arrows | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16th |
| 2001 | Formula One | Prost | Test driver | 16th | |||
| Jaguar | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 2002 | Formula One | Jaguar | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st |
| 2003 | Formula One | McLaren | Test driver | ||||
| 2004 | Formula One | McLaren | Test driver | ||||
| 2005 | Formula One | McLaren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20th |
| 2006 | Formula One | McLaren | 8 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11th |
| 2007 | Formula One | McLaren | Test driver | ||||
| 2008 | Formula One | McLaren | Test driver | ||||
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Yr | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Team | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arrows | AUS 6 |
BRA Ret |
RSM Ret |
MON Ret |
ESP 11 |
CAN Ret |
FRA 11 |
GBR Ret |
AUT Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 15 |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
EUR Ret |
MAL Ret |
JPN 13 |
Arrows | 18th | 1 | |||
| 2000 | Arrows | AUS Ret |
BRA 8 |
RSM Ret |
GBR Ret |
ESP Ret |
EUR 6 |
MON Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
AUT Ret |
GER 6 |
HUN 16 |
BEL 16 |
ITA Ret |
USA Ret |
JPN 12 |
MAL Ret |
Arrows | 16th | 2 | ||
| 2001 | Jaguar | AUS | MAL | BRA | RSM | ESP Ret |
AUT Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN 6 |
EUR 8 |
FRA 14 |
GBR 12 |
GER Ret |
HUN 11 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 5 |
USA 12 |
JPN Ret |
Jaguar | 16th | 3 | ||
| 2002 | Jaguar | AUS 8 |
MAL 10 |
BRA 8 |
RSM Ret |
ESP Ret |
AUT Ret |
MON 10 |
CAN Ret |
EUR 10 |
GBR 11 |
FRA 9 |
GER Ret |
HUN 13 |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
USA Ret |
JPN Ret |
Jaguar | 21st | 0 | ||
| 2005 | McLaren | AUS TD |
MAL TD |
BHR 5 |
SMR TD |
ESP TD |
MON | EUR | CAN TD |
USA TD |
FRA TD |
GBR TD |
GER | HUN | TUR TD |
ITA TD |
BEL | BRA | JPN TD |
CHN TD |
McLaren | 20th | 4 |
| 2006 | McLaren | BHR | MAL | AUS | SMR | EUR | ESP | MON | GBR | CAN | USA | FRA 7 |
GER Ret |
HUN 2 |
TUR 5 |
ITA Ret |
CHN 5 |
JPN 11 |
BRA 8 |
McLaren | 11th | 19 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Lewis Hamilton joins Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes", mclaren.com, 2006-11-24. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
- ^ "Letter confirms drivers had new evidence", autosport.com, 2007-09-07. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
- ^ "De la Rosa elected GPDA chairman", autosport.com, 2008-03-14. Retrieved on 2008-03-14.
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jason Plato |
British Formula Renault UK series champion 1992 |
Succeeded by Ivan Arias |
| Preceded by none |
Eurocup Formula Renault champion 1992 |
Succeeded by Olivier Couvreur |
| Preceded by Michael Krumm |
All-Japan Formula Three Champion 1995 |
Succeeded by Juichi Wakisaka |
| Preceded by Ralf Schumacher |
Formula Nippon Champion 1997 |
Succeeded by Satoshi Motoyama |
| Preceded by Ralf Schumacher |
GPDA Chairman 2008- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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