RACING DRIVERS from Venezuela

Top 3

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

1. Johnny Cecotto (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 53.34, Johnny Cecotto is the most famous Venezuelan Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello (born 25 January 1956), better known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer and auto racer. He rose to prominence as a teenage prodigy in 1975 when he became the youngest motorcycle road racing world champion at the age of 19. Despite the auspicious beginning to his motorcycle racing career, he suffered numerous injuries and mechanical problems which curtailed his success in motorcycle Grand Prix racing. At the age of 24, Cecotto turned his attention to auto racing where he reached the pinnacle of the sport as a Formula One driver. He later became a successful Touring Car racer. He is the last of a select group of competitors who competed at the highest level in motorcycle and auto racing, which includes John Surtees and Mike Hailwood among others.

2. Pastor Maldonado (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 45.47, Pastor Maldonado is the 2nd most famous Venezuelan Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (Spanish pronunciation: [pasˈtoɾ maldoˈnaðo]; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 2011 to 2015. Maldonado won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Williams. After winning the GP2 Series in 2010 with Rapax, Maldonado competed in Formula One for Williams and Lotus, winning the Spanish Grand Prix in 2012 with the former. He was replaced by Kevin Magnussen at the reformed Renault team for 2016, becoming a test driver for Pirelli. Maldonado returned to racing in 2018 at the FIA World Endurance Championship, finishing third in the LMP2 class with DragonSpeed before taking a class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019.

3. Rodolfo González (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 27.79, Rodolfo González is the 3rd most famous Venezuelan Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Rodolfo González (born 14 May 1986 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan racing driver.