RACING DRIVERS from Mexico

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Mexican Racing Drivers of all time. This list of famous Mexican Racing Drivers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Pedro Rodríguez (1940 - 1971)

With an HPI of 57.53, Pedro Rodríguez is the most famous Mexican Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega (18 January 1940 – 11 July 1971) was a Mexican racing driver. He began his Formula One career in 1963, won the 1967 South African Grand Prix in a Cooper and the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix in a BRM. He was the older brother of Ricardo Rodríguez. Both brothers started racing at an early age, first on motorbikes and then moving to cars. Following his brother's death in a racing accident in 1962, Pedro briefly considered retiring from racing, but decided to carry on. In sports car racing his first major win was with his brother in the 1961 Paris 1000km, driving a Ferrari 250 GT. He won the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40 and in 1970-71 he won eight races in a Porsche 917. He was killed at the Norisring in Nuremberg, West Germany, on 11 July 1971 driving a Ferrari 512 M in an Interserie sports car race.

2. Ricardo Rodríguez (1942 - 1962)

With an HPI of 56.02, Ricardo Rodríguez is the 2nd most famous Mexican Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Ricardo Valentín Rodríguez de la Vega (14 February 1942 – 1 November 1962) was a Mexican racing driver who competed in the 1961 and 1962 Formula One seasons. He was the first Mexican driver ever to take part in a Formula One Grand Prix, and at the age of 19 years and 208 days, when first racing for Ferrari at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, he became the youngest Formula One driver to race for the legendary Italian team, a title he held until the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where his record was broken by Briton Oliver Bearman at 18 years and 305 days old. At this Italian Grand Prix, he also became the youngest driver to start a Formula One race until the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, and the youngest driver to start from the first row until the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix, and at the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix he also became the youngest driver to score points in Formula One, a record he held until the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix. His death at the age of 20 in 1962 made him the youngest Formula One driver to die. His elder brother, Pedro, was also a noted racing driver who had much success in both sports car racing and Formula One, including a season with Ferrari in 1969, who was also fatally injured in a racing accident.

3. Sergio Pérez (1990 - )

With an HPI of 50.65, Sergio Pérez is the 3rd most famous Mexican Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (Spanish: [ˈseɾxjo ˈpeɾes] ; born 26 January 1990) is a Mexican racing driver who races in Formula One for Red Bull Racing, having previously driven for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, and Racing Point. He has won six Grand Prix races and scored 39 podium finishes. He won his first Grand Prix driving for Racing Point at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, breaking the record for the number of starts before a race win at 190. He earned his first Formula One pole position at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, breaking the record for the most races before a first pole position at 215. Up until 2012, Pérez was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He made his Formula One debut driving for Sauber during the 2011 season. He took his first Formula One podium at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix with Sauber. Due to his young age and performance, he was referred to as "The Mexican Wunderkind". Pérez joined McLaren for the 2013 season, but the team did not score a single podium finish. Subsequently, the team decided to replace Pérez with Kevin Magnussen for the 2014 season. Force India signed Pérez for the 2014 season with a €15 million contract. He remained with Force India when the team went into administration in 2018 and reformed as the Racing Point team for 2019. He raced for Racing Point until the end of 2020, when the team announced that Pérez would be replaced at the end of the season by Sebastian Vettel. Pérez then signed with Red Bull Racing for the 2021 season. He has won 5 races with the team, most recently 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, finishing runner-up to teammate Max Verstappen in 2023 Drivers' Championship. He is currently under contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of the 2024 season.

4. Moisés Solana (1935 - 1969)

With an HPI of 46.35, Moisés Solana is the 4th most famous Mexican Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Moisés Solana Arciniega (December 26, 1935 – July 27, 1969) was a Mexican racing driver. He participated in eight Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on October 27, 1963, and scoring no championship points. He also participated in one non-championship Formula One race. He also took part in Formula Two in 1968 with Team Lotus at the Jarama Circuit near Madrid, Spain. His first racing events were in a 1954 special (the "Solana Sports"), built by Javier Solana. Solana was also a proficient Jai alai player and his racing career was partly funded by this. In 1968, Solana tested a Formula Two car for Ferrari. He also drove for Lola and McLaren in the USRRC/Can-Am series between 1966 and 1968, and in March 1968 he won the first point-scoring race of the USRRC Group 7 series in the first international race in Mexico City. He still holds all the records in the Mexican road race categories and those at the Mexican Magdalena Mixhuca circuit. He was the only driver in the history of the Formula One World Championship to start a race in a number 13 car (Divina Galica, in the 1976 British Grand Prix, also attempted a race with the number, but failed to qualify), something he did for BRM on his Formula One debut in the 1963 Mexican Grand Prix until Pastor Maldonado adopted 13 as his permanent number in 2014. Solana was a classified finisher in 11th despite his engine having failed eight laps short of the chequered flag. On July 27, 1969, Solana was killed in the Hillclimb Valle de Bravo-Bosencheve in Mexico, in a fatal accident after his McLaren went wide in a bend and hit a concrete trimming on the edge of the road, overturning the car which landed on top of him and caught fire. The Solana family is still very active in motor racing and has manufactured handmade sports cars on a mostly one-off basis. The first chicane at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City (turns 1–3) is known as the Ese Moisés Solana ("the Moisés Solana Esses").

5. Héctor Rebaque (1956 - )

With an HPI of 45.58, Héctor Rebaque is the 5th most famous Mexican Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Héctor Alonso Rebaque (born 5 February 1956) is a Mexican former racing driver who raced in Formula One and CART IndyCar in the 1970s and 1980s. He also ran for his own Formula One team called Rebaque in 1978 and 1979.

6. Esteban Gutiérrez (1991 - )

With an HPI of 39.53, Esteban Gutiérrez is the 6th most famous Mexican Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (Spanish pronunciation: [esˈteβam maˈnwel ɣuˈtjeres ɣuˈtjeres]; born 5 August 1991) is a Mexican racing driver currently competing in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship for Glickenhaus Racing and the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship for CrowdStrike Racing by APR. He is also a development driver for Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. Previously from 2013 to 2014, Gutiérrez drove for the Sauber Formula One team but lost his drive at the end of the 2014 season. He then signed with Ferrari as their test and reserve driver for 2015. Gutiérrez drove for the Haas F1 Team for the 2016 Formula One season. In 2008, Gutiérrez won the Formula BMW Europe championship title,becoming the youngest Mexican driver to win an International Championship at 17 years old. He also won the inaugural GP3 season in 2010. With the Lotus GP team in 2012, he became the first GP3 graduate to finish in the top three of the GP2 parent series. Gutiérrez has also raced in Formula E and the IndyCar Series. His younger brother José Gutiérrez is also a racing driver.

7. Salvador Durán (1985 - )

With an HPI of 24.06, Salvador Durán is the 7th most famous Mexican Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Salvador Durán Sánchez (born 6 May 1985) is a Mexican race car driver who raced in the FIA Formula E Championship for the Amlin Aguri team. Durán has also previously competed in A1 Grand Prix, Formula Renault 3.5, and the NASCAR Toyota Series.