Pedro MartÃnez de la Rosa (born 24 February 1971) is a
Formula One driver who is currently a test driver for
McLaren and
Sauber. He has participated in 87 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 March 1999, becoming one of very few drivers to score a point at his first race. He has scored a total of 35 championship points, which includes a podium finish at the
2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Early career
De la Rosa was born in
Cardedeu,
Catalonia,
Spain, and unlike most drivers, he started his career in
radio-controlled cars, specialising in 1:8 off-road. He won the
European radio controlled off-road championship twice in 1983 and 1984 and was runner up in the
world championship in 1986. 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.
Professional career
In 1990, de le 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....
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