Rodolfo González (born 14 May 1986 in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

) is a Venezuelan

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

Career

Formula Renault

After previously competing in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

, González raced in the 2003 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series, before racing in the main series in 2004 and 2005 while attending

City College Norwich City College Norwich is a college of further and higher education in Norfolk, England. It is one of the largest colleges in the country. The College has expanded in recent years following mergers with Easton College in 2020 and Paston Colleg ...

Formula Three

He won the British F3 International Series National Class in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

for T-Sport. In 2007 he continued to show promise by finishing 11th in the 2007 British Formula 3 season with T-Sport. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he moved to

Carlin Motorsport Carlin, formerly known as Carlin Motorsport and Rodin Carlin, was a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It primarily competed in junior racing championships such as FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3. Carlin also competed in top level ...

and the

Formula Three Euroseries The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

and endured a miserable season, amassing just half a point in the rain-shortened sprint race at

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

GP2 Series

He replaced

Andreas Zuber Andreas "Andi" Zuber (born 9 October 1983 in Judenburg, Austria) is a former Auto racing, motor racing driver. An Austrian by birth, he is based in Dubai and once raced under a licence issued by the United Arab Emirates. Career Formula König De ...

for the third round of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season at

Sakhir Sakhir () is a desert area located in the Southern Governorate of Bahrain, near Zallaq. It contains the Al-Sakhir Palace, built in 1870. Camping in Sakhir during the winter months is a popular activity in the country. Notable sites In the earl ...

, and finished 16th in his first race. He eventually wound up 23rd in the championship, with a best finish of eighth in the sprint race at

Sepang Pekan Sepang is a small border town and also a mukim in Sepang District, Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on t ...

. González entered the main

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

for the first time as a replacement for

Davide Rigon Davide Rigon (born 26 August 1986) is an Italian professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He is also currently part of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula ...

Trident Racing Trident Motorsport (formerly known as Trident Racing) is a motor racing team that competes in Open-wheel car, single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 Series, GP2 championship, which was Europe's second h ...

for the German rounds. He also competed in

Euroseries 3000 Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, finishing in fifth position. González raced for

Arden International Arden International, competing as Arden Motorsport, is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently competes in the GB4 Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Formula ...

in the first round of the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season before being replaced by

Javier Villa Javier Villa García (born 5 October 1987) is a Spanish former racing driver living in Arriondas, Asturias, Spain. He drove in the GP2 Series from 2006 towards 2009. In 2010 he switched to touring cars, driving at the Spanish Mini Challenge and ...

. He returned at the final round in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, replacing

Sergio Pérez Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990) is a Mexican racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Pérez was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Red Bull, and won Gr ...

at Barwa Addax. González returned to Arden for the

2010 GP2 Series season The 2010 GP2 Series season was the forty-fourth season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also sixth season under the GP2 Series moniker. The season began on 8 May at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain and ended ...

alongside

Charles Pic Charles Maurice Marcel Pic (; born 15 February 1990) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Montélimar, Montélimar, Drôme, Pic began kart racing, karting aged 13 wi ...

. He scored four points and finished 21st in the drivers' championship. For 2011, he moved to

, where he competed alongside

Stefano Coletti Stefano Coletti (born 6 April 1989) is a Monaco, Monégasque former professional Auto racing, racing driver who raced for SMP Racing in the European Le Mans Series. His sister Alexandra Coletti is an alpine skier. He is the first Monégasque drive ...

. He finished seventeenth in the

Asia series The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four professional leagues associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)—Australian Baseball League (ABL), Chinese Professi ...

and 26th in the main series. He was then signed by Caterham Racing alongside

Giedo van der Garde Giedo Gijsbertus Gerrit van der Garde (; born 25 April 1985) is a Dutch former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One in , and the FIA World Endurance Championship between 2016 FIA World Endurance Champi ...

for the 2012 season, in which he finished 22nd in the championship.

Formula One

In 2010 González was given a drive in the

Lotus T127 The Lotus T127 is a Formula One motor racing car designed and built by Team Lotus (2010–11), Lotus Racing for the season. It was driven by Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen and was unveiled in London, on 12 February 2010. The car made its t ...

at the end-of-season young driver test in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

, alongside Bulgarian

Vladimir Arabadzhiev Vladimir "Vlado" Arabadzhiev (, born 16 March 1984 in Plovdiv) is a former Bulgarian racing driver. Career Formula Three Arabadzhiev began his career in the Italian Formula Three Championship in 2006, finishing the season in 11th in the standin ...

. On 14 March 2013

Marussia F1 The Marussia F1 Team (subsequently Manor Marussia F1 Team) was a Formula One racing team and constructor which was based in Banbury, Oxfordshire and then later Dinnington, South Yorkshire, Dinnington, South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom and co ...

announced that González would be the team's reserve driver for the

2013 Formula One season The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 67th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 64th FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internationa ...

. He drove in the practice sessions at the Hungarian,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and Korean Grands Prix for Marussia, notably crashing in the latter.

Endurance racing

González competed in the 2014 ELMS Championship with the Murphy Prototypes Endurance Racing Team in the LMP2 category, and the 2014 Le Mans Classic.

IndyCar

González tested

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

cars in the 2014–2015 off-season with

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren, competing as Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team due to sponsorship, is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports (SSM). The team operates the N ...

and

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known ...

. He was a surprise addition to the IndyCar Series entry list in the fourth round of the

2015 IndyCar Series season The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 20th season of the IndyCar Series and the 104th season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 2015 Indianapolis 500, 99th Indianapolis 500, which was held on May 24. Will Power returned ...

Barber Motorsports Park Barber Motorsports Park is an racing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabama since 2010 IndyCar Ser ...

in the Dale Coyne No. 18 entry.

Return to racing

González was announced to drive for Idola Motorsport in the Britcar Prototype Cup in a

Praga R1 The Praga R1 is a racing and sports car made by Czech car manufacturer Praga (company), Praga. The cars raced on the Supercar Challenge (series), Supercar Challenge and the Britcar, Britcar Endurance Championship. Development The first P ...

with Ruben Stanislau. He won the opening race of the season at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

Racing record