Pedro de la Rosa

Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1999 to 2012, participating in 107 Grands Prix and achieving one podium—second place at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix for McLaren—while establishing himself as one of Formula One's most experienced and valuable test drivers, completing thousands of testing miles that contributed significantly to McLaren's mid-2000s resurgence and championship contention. De la Rosa won both the 1997 Formula Nippon Championship and All-Japan GT Championship in Japan, demonstrating versatility across single-seater and sports car categories before reaching Formula One. He made his Formula One debut in 1999 for Arrows, then drove for Jaguar from 2001-2002, scoring occasional points but never with championship-contending machinery.

McLaren offered de la Rosa a test driver role for 2003, beginning a long and fruitful partnership. Alongside Austrian Alex Wurz, de la Rosa worked tirelessly, accumulating thousands of test miles developing McLaren's cars. He proved exceptional in this role, helping develop the stillborn MP4-18 into the uncompetitive MP4-19 and finally the MP4-20, which narrowly missed the 2005 championship. His testing feedback was so valuable that McLaren retained him for years.

De la Rosa received racing opportunities when injuries struck McLaren's drivers: at the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix, he replaced injured Juan Pablo Montoya, finishing fifth and setting a lap record that stood until 2025. In mid-2006, when Montoya departed Formula One for NASCAR, de la Rosa took over the second McLaren race seat with immediate effect. At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, de la Rosa scored his first and only Formula One podium with second place behind Jenson Button—McLaren's reliability allowing him to capitalize on Ferrari's problems. He remained McLaren's test driver through 2009, and by January 2010 was the fifth most experienced test driver in history by test days completed.

For 2010-2011, he raced for Sauber, then finished his Formula One career with HRT in 2012. His 107 starts yielded 35 championship points and one podium—modest racing statistics that understate his contribution to Formula One. His thousands of testing miles developing McLaren's championship-contending cars from 2003-2009 were arguably more valuable than many drivers' race results. De la Rosa represents the essential but often overlooked role of test drivers who sacrifice racing opportunities to develop cars for others, providing technical feedback and setup work that enables race drivers to succeed.