Ricardo
Rodríguez

Ricardo Rodríguez was born in Mexico City on 14 February 1942. As a child he was a cycling champion, and at eleven he moved on to motorcycles, winning several national titles. He then raced saloon cars in his own Fiat Topolino. In 1957 he made his international debut at Riverside, winning the under 1.5 litre class in a Porsche. He often raced for the North American Racing Team alongside his brother Pedro, who was also a racing driver. At Le Mans the organisers refused his entry in 1958 because of his age. In 1959 he drove an OSCA in the 750cc class there, and in 1960 he finished second with André Pilette, which made him the youngest driver ever on the podium of that race.

Rodríguez was the first Mexican to take part in a Formula One World Championship race. At the 1961 Italian Grand Prix he was given a guest drive with Ferrari and qualified second at the age of 19 years and 208 days, which made him the youngest driver to start from the front row until 2016. During the race the lead changed hands several times between him, Phil Hill and Richie Ginther, until a fuel pump failure ended his race. In 1962 he was a full works Ferrari driver, though the team used him sparingly. He started four races, finished fourth in Belgium and sixth in Germany, and ended the world championship in 13th place. His points in Belgium made him the youngest points scorer in Formula One until a younger driver scored in 2000. In total he made five World Championship starts. Also in 1962 he was second at the Pau Grand Prix, and he won the Targa Florio in a Ferrari 246 SP with Olivier Gendebien and Willy Mairesse.

Ferrari did not enter cars for the 1962 Mexican Grand Prix, a non-championship race, so Rodríguez was due to drive a Lotus 24 for Rob Walker. On 1 November 1962 he died in a crash on the first day of unofficial practice at the Peraltada corner in Mexico City. He was 20 years old, and his death brought national mourning in Mexico. The Scuderia Rodríguez A.C. keeps the memory of him and his brother Pedro alive.

Source: Wikipedia, “Ricardo Rodríguez (racing driver)”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.