Karting Born in
Oxford, England, Rossiter started his motor racing career in karting at the age of 14. Competing in TKM and Rotax Max karts, he stepped up to single-seater competition after three years, testing a
Formula Palmer Audi at the
Bedford Autodrome in 2001.
Formula Renault and Formula 3 Rossiter took the first steps in his professional career in 2002 by joining Falcon Motorsport to compete in the
Formula Renault UK championship. Securing a best finish of fourth at
Thruxton, he finished 13th in the drivers’ standings with 103 points but returned for the
2003 season, switching to
Fortec Motorsport. Hitting his competitive stride immediately, Rossiter finished third behind
Mike Conway and
Lewis Hamilton at the season opener at
Snetterton and scored a further nine podiums, including one win, over the remainder of the season. He finished third overall behind Hamilton and
Alex Lloyd and was recognised by a leading journalist as "the only driver to take the fight to Lewis Hamilton". In 2004, Rossiter continued his relationship with Fortec Motorsport but graduated to the
British Formula 3 championship. He scored three victories and 12 podiums during the season to finish third in the drivers’ championship behind
Nelson Piquet Jr. and
Adam Carroll, while also receiving the Rookie of the Year Award. With further performances at the
Macau Grand Prix and
Masters of Formula 3 events in 2004, Rossiter received the
BRDC John Cooper Award and was selected as the winner of the
BAR young F1 driver search from a group of upcoming racing drivers. In 2005, Rossiter graduated to international competition, racing in the
Formula 3 Euro Series for
Signature-Plus. He finished the season in seventh in the drivers’ championship with one win and three podiums before switching to
Formula Renault 3.5 for 2006, in which he was 14th.
Formula One After being selected as the winner of the BAR young F1 driver search in 2004, Rossiter continued to perform development work for the team throughout the
2005 season. He was retained for
2006 following
Honda's acquisition of the team and in
2007, worked primarily with the
Super Aguri F1 team, spearheaded by
Aguri Suzuki and
Mark Preston. In
2008, Rossiter was again retained by Honda as the team's primary test and development driver for its Formula One program. Working in Japan, he played a key role in the development of the Honda RA109 which would become
Jenson Button's world championship-winning
Brawn BGP 001 in
2009. Following Honda's withdrawal from Formula One, Rossiter focussed on securing a drive with one of four new teams entering the sport for the
2010 season. He was signed by the
US F1 Team to partner
José María López but was not officially confirmed prior to the team's collapse. Rossiter was instead poised to join the
IndyCar Series, driving for
KV Racing Technology after testing for the team at
Barber Motorsports Park although the team re-signed
Mario Moraes, which left him without a drive. He subsequently joined
Sky Sports as a commentator for their IndyCar coverage. After three years away from Formula One, Rossiter returned in 2012 by joining
Force India as a test and simulator driver. He drove the team's
2013 car, the
VJM06, at the first pre-season test at
Jerez and was set to make his first practice appearance at the
British Grand Prix to replace
Adrian Sutil, although this was cancelled due to wet weather.
Super GT and Super Formula in
2014. In 2013, Rossiter joined
TOM'S to race full-time in the
Super GT championship. As team-mate to ex-F1 driver
Kazuki Nakajima, he won the second race of the season at
Fuji and the penultimate race at
Autopolis. He finished third in the standings, nine points behind champions
Kohei Hirate and
Yuji Tachikawa and also ran a part-time campaign in
Super Formula, taking a best result of sixth. Rossiter ran full-time in both Super GT and Super Formula in 2014 with TOM'S and
Kondō Racing. He finished third in Super GT with a pair of wins at
Suzuka and
Buriam and took a best finish of second at Super Formula's season opener and was sixth in the standings. Rossiter continued his dual racing program throughout 2015 and 2016 and scored one win and four podiums with TOM'S in Super GT before racing solely in the series in
2017 after leaving Kondō Racing. He secured his final win in the series at Autopolis and finished fifth in the championship. In 2018, Rossiter ran full-time in Super Formula with TOM'S and part-time in Super GT. He switched to
Team Impul to race solely in Super GT in
2019, and scored his final podium at
Okayama by finishing third.
World Endurance Championship Before joining the
FIA World Endurance Championship, Rossiter took his first steps in sportscar racing in
2008 by competing part-time in the
American Le Mans Series with
Andretti Green Racing. He won alongside team-mate
Franck Montagny at
Belle Isle and later raced at the
2011 24 Hours of Le Mans with
Jetalliance Racing, driving a
Lotus Evora. at the
2013 24 Hours of Le Mans In
2012, Rossiter joined
Lotus in the World Endurance Championship's LMP2 class. He secured a best finish of ninth at
Bahrain and started from pole position at
Shanghai. He continued to drive for the team part-time in
2013 and
2014. Rossiter rejoined the ByKolles operation in
2016 and ran part-time over the next three seasons, making six appearances in LMP1 alongside one LMP2 start for
G-Drive Racing in
2017. On 8 February 2021, Rossiter was named as the simulator and reserve driver for
Peugeot Sport's return to the World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar class. He was later promoted to a full-time race seat following
Kevin Magnussen's return to Formula One with
Haas in 2022. Rossiter finished fourth on the
Peugeot 9X8's debut at
Monza and finished fifth at Fuji. On 7 October 2022, Rossiter confirmed his departure from Peugeot and announced his retirement from professional competition to join
Maserati MSG Racing in
Formula E as team principal.
Formula E In 2017, Rossiter represented
Venturi Racing at
Formula E pre-season testing at the
Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, alongside
Edoardo Mortara,
Maro Engel and Michael Benyahia.
DS Techeetah After missing out on a drive for the
2017–18 season, Rossiter reunited with former Super Aguri technical director, Mark Preston, to drive for
DS Techeetah in Formula E's first rookie test, at which he set the fifth-fastest time. Rossiter was named as Techeetah's development driver for the
2018–19 season and, working with
DS Automobiles, played a key role in the development of the team's championship-winning DS E-TENSE FE19 package. He returned to the cockpit for Formula E's 2019 rookie test and set the second-fastest time behind
Nico Müller. Following Formula E's fifth season, Rossiter became Techeetah's reserve driver and was also appointed to the role of sporting director after the departure of predecessor
Pedro de la Rosa. At the
2020 Marrakesh ePrix, Rossiter replaced full-time driver
Jean-Éric Vergne for FP1, when the reigning champion was feeling unwell. The team went on to win both the drivers’ and teams’ Championships in the
2019–20 season. Rossiter remained in the position of reserve driver and sporting director throughout the
2020/21 and
2021/22 campaigns before leaving the team.
Maserati MSG Racing On 7 October 2022, Rossiter joined
Maserati MSG Racing as team principal following the departure of former team boss
Jérôme d'Ambrosio and confirmed his retirement from professional driving. Under Rossiter's leadership, the
Maserati brand scored its first world championship single-seater pole position, podium and victory since racing in
Formula One in
1957. Rossiter's role as Maserati team principal ended in October 2023. == Racing record ==