Remembering Mexico's greatest F1 driver Pedro Rodriguez

Pedro Rodriguez was killed 50 years ago this week, robbing Mexico of its brightest motor racing talent. A master of the Porsche 917, he had become one of the world’s top drivers, widely respected for his wet-weather ability and versatility across Formula 1 and sportscars.

Kevin Turner Jul 8, 2021, 6:46 PM

Upd: Jul 11, 2022, 2:46 PM

“Racing is my life, and a weekend without a race is a lost weekend.” That line, said to North American Racing Team boss Luigi Chinetti, and which appears in the comprehensive work Brothers Rodriguez by Carlos Eduardo Jalife-Villalon, sums up Pedro Rodriguez’s approach to motorsport. It also helps to explain why the BRM and Porsche star was driving a privateer Ferrari 512M in a relatively minor Interserie race at the Norisring on 11 July 1971.

Despite the presence of much bigger machinery, Rodriguez was leading at the time he lost control, possibly due to a backmarker, and hit the wall. The Ferrari burst into flames and, despite quick medical attention, Rodriguez had little chance of survival.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Fleet with his wife and two children.