Pedro Rodríguez competed in nine seasons of Formula 1 making his debut in 1963 with the Lotus 25 participating in only two rounds (U.S.A. and México) of the F1 Championship, he continued making occasional appearances the following years racing for Lotus and the North American Racing Team (Team to promote the Ferrari brand in U.S.A.) until 1967 when he started racing for Cooper-Maserati, winning the first race of the season, the 80-lap South African Grand Prix, and becoming the first Mexican ever to win an F1 race, finishing 6th in the WDC (World Drivers Championship).

2 JANUARY, 1967: SOUTH AFRICA

1st F1 win for Pedro Rodriguez 📸

1st F1 win for Mexico 🇲🇽

Last of 16 F1 wins for Cooper #OnThisDay #OTD #F1 pic.twitter.com/3OOn8NT7vw

— Formula 1 (@F1) January 2, 2018

In 1968, as in every year since 1958, he participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the legendary Ford GT40 Mk1. Pedro won the race with 331 laps, sharing the victory with Lucien Bianchi and giving the points Ford needed to beat Porsche in the FIA World Sportscar Championship. He raced for BRM in F1 ending the season with 3 podiums.

The Mexican driver started racing for Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1, mid-season 1969, finishing 14th in the WDC with 3 points, next he returned to BRM for the 1970 and 1971 F1 season winning the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix. He started racing for Porsche with John Wyer Automotive in the World Sportscar Championship driving the Porsche 917K, helping the team win the title with 5 victories including the 1000 km of Brands Hatch where he showed his driving skills under the rain.

Pedro Rodríguez was killed in 1971 while racing the Interserie at Norisring when his Ferrari 512M crashed and caught fire.

Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega (1940-1971).