James Rossiter

For the American politician, see James Patrick Rossiter.

James Rossiter
Rossiter in Monaco in 2022
Nationality	British
Born	(1983-08-25) 25 August 1983 (age 40) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Related to	Jeremy Rossiter (father)
Super GT career
Debut season	2013
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Former teams	TOM'S, Team LeMans, Team Impul
Starts	48
Wins	6
Poles	4
Fastest laps	3
Best finish	3rd in 2013 and 2014
Previous series
2012-22 2013-19 2013-18 2011–13 2011 2008 2006 2005 2004 2002–03	World Endurance Championship Super GT Super Formula 24 Hours of Le Mans Le Mans Series American Le Mans Series LMP2 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Formula 3 Euro Series British Formula 3 British Formula Renault

James Stuart Rossiter ^[1] (born 25 August 1983) is a British former professional racing driver, British motorsport executive and former team principal of Maserati MSG Racing in Formula E. ^[2]

He was a test driver for BAR, Honda, Super Aguri and Force India in Formula One and was due to drive for the proposed US F1 Team in the 2010 season. ^{[3] [4]} Before joining Maserati, Rossiter was the sporting director and reserve driver for DS Techeetah and raced for Peugeot Sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship. ^[5]

Career

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. ^[6] 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. ^[7]

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. ^[8]

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. ^[9] 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. ^{[10] [11]}

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. ^{[12] [13]}

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. ^[14]

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. ^[15]

Super GT and Super Formula

Rossiter during qualifying at Motegi 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.

He 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.

In 2012, he 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. ^[16]

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. ^[17]

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. ^[18]

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. ^[19]

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. ^[20] He returned to the cockpit for Formula E’s 2019 rookie test and set the second-fastest time behind Nico Müller. ^[21]

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. ^[22]

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. ^[23] 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. ^[24]

Rossiter's role as Maserati team principal ended in October 2023. ^[25]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2002	Formula Renault UK	Falcon Motorsport	11	0	0	0	0	103	13th
2003	Formula Renault UK	Fortec Motorsport	16	1	1	0	10	347	3rd
2004	British Formula 3 International Series	Fortec Motorsport	24	3	4	3	12	228	3rd
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
	FIA European Formula Three Cup		1	0	0	1	0	N/A	13th
	Macau Grand Prix	Signature Team	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	Bahrain Superprix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	Test driver
2005	Formula 3 Euro Series	Signature-Plus	20	1	0	0	3	51	7th
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	Formula One	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	Test driver
2006	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Pons Racing	17	0	0	0	1	33	14th
	Formula One	Lucky Strike Honda Racing F1 Team	Test driver
2007	Formula One	Super Aguri F1	Test driver
2008	American Le Mans Series - LMP2	Andretti Green Racing	3	1	0	0	1	39	22nd
	Formula One	Honda Racing F1 Team	Test driver
2011	Le Mans Series - GTE Pro	Lotus Jetalliance	3	0	0	0	0	0	51st
	24 Hours of Le Mans - GTE Pro		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	7th
	American Le Mans Series - GT		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2012	FIA World Endurance Championship	Lotus	6	0	0	0	0	4.5	44th
	Formula One	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Test driver
2013	Super GT	Petronas Team TOM'S	8	2	1	0	3	60	3rd
	Super Formula		3	0	0	0	0	2.5	16th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	Lotus	3	0	0	0	0	8	25th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	Formula One	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Test driver
2014	Super GT	Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S	8	2	2	0	2	68	3rd
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	9	0	0	0	1	22	9th
	FIA World Endurance Championship	Lotus	2	0	0	0	0	0.5	25th
2015	Super GT	Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S	8	1	0	0	2	49	7th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	8	0	0	0	0	5	12th
2016	Super GT	Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S	8	0	1	0	2	38	9th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	9	0	0	0	0	12	10th
	FIA World Endurance Championship	ByKolles Racing Team	2	0	0	0	0	8.5	24th
2017	Super GT	Lexus Team au TOM'S	8	1	0	1	1	53	5th
	FIA World Endurance Championship	ByKolles Racing Team	2	0	0	0	0	9	29th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	G-Drive Racing	1	0	0	0	0	8	26th
2017–18	Formula E	Venturi Formula E Team	Test driver
		Techeetah
2018	Super Formula	Vantelin Team TOM'S	6	0	0	1	0	0	17th
	Super GT	Lexus Team au TOM'S	1	0	0	0	0	8	18th
		Lexus Team LeMans Wako's	1	0	0	0	0
2018–19	FIA World Endurance Championship	ByKolles Racing Team	2	0	0	0	0	10	26th
	Formula E	DS Techeetah	Development driver
2019	Super GT	Team Impul	7	0	0	0	1	17.5	13th
2019–20	Formula E	DS Techeetah	Reserve driver
2020–21	Formula E	DS Techeetah	Reserve driver
2021–22	Formula E	DS Techeetah	Reserve driver
2022	FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar	Peugeot TotalEnergies	2	0	0	0	0	22	8th
Sources: [26] [27]

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2005	Signature-Plus	Dallara F305/025	Mercedes	HOC 1 4	HOC 2 1	PAU 1 3	PAU 2 4	SPA 1 2	SPA 2 8	MCO 1 4	MCO 2 4	OSC 1 15	OSC 2 13	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 7	NÜR 1 10	NÜR 2 Ret	ZAN 1 Ret	ZAN 2 10	LAU 1 18	LAU 2 14	HOC 1 5	HOC 2 9	7th	51
Sources: [28] [29]

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	DC	Points
2006	Pons Racing	ZOL 1 5	ZOL 2 Ret	MON 1 2	IST 1 Ret	IST 2 5	MIS 1 9	MIS 2 6	SPA 1 Ret	SPA 2 24	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 Ret	DON 1 Ret	DON 2 Ret	LMS 1 16	LMS 2 17	CAT 1 9	CAT 2 Ret	14th	33
Sources: [28] [29]

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points	Ref
2008	Andretti Green Racing	LMP2	Acura ARX-01b	Acura 3.4L V8	SEB	STP	LBH	UTA	LIM	MDO	RDA 7	MOS 4	DET 1	PET	MON	22nd	39	[30]
2011	Lotus Jetalliance	GT	Lotus Evora GTE	Toyota (Cosworth) 4.0 L V6	SEB	LNB	LIM	MOS	MID	AME	BAL	MON	PET NC			NC	–	[31]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2011	Lotus Jetalliance	Jonathan Hirschi Johnny Mowlem	Lotus Evora GTE	GTE Pro	295	22nd	7th
2013	Lotus	Christophe Bouchut Kevin Weeda	Lotus T128	LMP2	17	DNF	DNF
Sources: [32] [33]

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Rank	Points
2012	Lotus	LMP2	Lola B12/80	Lotus 3.6 L V8	SEB	SPA 29	LMS	SIL Ret	SÃO 13	BHR 9	FUJ 12	SHA Ret		44th	4.5
2013	Lotus	LMP2	Lotus T128	Praga Judd 3.6 L V8	SIL	SPA 6	LMS Ret	SÃO	COA DNS	FUJ 10	SHA	BHR		25th	8
2014	Lotus	LMP1	CLM P1/01	AER P60 Turbo V6	SIL	SPA	LMS	COA 15	FUJ Ret	SHA	BHR	SÃO		25th	0.5
2016	ByKolles Racing Team	LMP1	CLM P1/01	AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6	SIL 14	SPA 6	LMS	NÜR	MEX	COA	FUJ	SHA	BHR	24th	8.5
2017	ByKolles Racing Team	LMP1	ENSO CLM P1/01	Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbo V6	SIL Ret	SPA 6	LMS	NÜR	MEX	COA				29th	9
	G-Drive Racing	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8							FUJ 6	SHA	BHR	26th	8
2018–19	ByKolles Racing Team	LMP1	ENSO CLM P1/01	Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbo V6	SPA	LMS	SIL	FUJ 5	SHA Ret	SEB	SPA	LMS		26th	10
2022	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Hypercar	Peugeot 9X8	Peugeot 2.6 L Turbo V6	SEB	SPA	LMS	MNZ 4	FUJ 5	BHR				8th	22
Sources: [29] [34]

Complete Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2013	Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S	Lexus SC430	GT500	OKA 12	FUJ 1	SEP 11	SUG 10	SUZ 3	FUJ 12	AUT 1	MOT 5	3rd	60
2014	Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S	Lexus RC F	GT500	OKA 13	FUJ 9	AUT 5	SUG 4	FUJ 5	SUZ 1	BUR 1	MOT 10	3rd	68
2015	Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S	Lexus RC F	GT500	OKA 14	FUJ 3	CHA 8	FUJ 7	SUZ 1	SUG 13	AUT 5	MOT Ret	7th	49
2016	Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S	Lexus RC F	GT500	OKA 2	FUJ 3	SUG 8	FUJ 12	SUZ Ret	CHA 9	MOT Ret	MOT 5	9th	38
2017	Lexus Team au TOM's	Lexus LC 500	GT500	OKA 5	FUJ 5	AUT 1	SUG 7	FUJ 4	SUZ 9	BUR 5	MOT 14	5th	53
2018	Lexus Team au TOM's	Lexus LC 500	GT500	OKA	FUJ 4							18th	8
	Lexus Team LeMans Wako's					SUZ 12	CHA	FUJ	SUG	AUT	MOT
2019	Team Impul	Nissan GT-R	GT500	OKA 3‡	FUJ 12	SUZ 10	BUR 8	FUJ 5	AUT	SUG 14	MOT Ret	13th	17.5
Source: [29]

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Super Formula results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
2013	Petronas Team TOM'S	SUZ 11	AUT	FUJ	MOT	SUG	SUZ 7	SUZ 6			16th	2.5
2014	Kondō Racing	SUZ 2	FUJ 6	FUJ 17	FUJ 8	MOT 8	AUT 5	SUG 4	SUZ 6	SUZ 10	6th	22
2015	Kondō Racing	SUZ 16	OKA Ret	FUJ 7	MOT 12	AUT 6	SUG 14	SUZ Ret	SUZ Ret		12th	5
2016	Kondō Racing	SUZ 6	OKA 9	FUJ 5	MOT 5	OKA 9	OKA 10	SUG 8	SUZ 12	SUZ 15	10th	12
2018	Vantelin Team TOM'S	SUZ 11	AUT C	SUG Ret	FUJ 19	MOT 9	OKA 11	SUZ Ret			17th	0
Source: [28]

References

1. "James Stuart ROSSITER". Companies House. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
2. Smith, Sam (7 October 2022). "EX-F1 TEST DRIVER SIGNED TO LEAD MASERATI'S FORMULA E TEAM". the-race.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
3. Straw, Edd (26 June 2013). "British GP: James Rossiter to drive Force India in practice". Autosport.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
4. Cooper, Adam (March 2010). "US F1 had signed Rossiter as well as Lopez – but still the sums didn't add up". adamcooperf1.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
5. Blackstock, Elizabeth (7 October 2022). "Maserati Formula E Team to Be Headed by James Rossiter". jalopnik.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
6. "James Rossiter signs Fortec F3 deal". au.motorsport.com. 16 February 2004. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
7. "Brands Hatch: Race one summary, champion crowned". us.motorsport.com. 3 October 2004. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
8. "BRDC rewards Button and Richards". grandprix.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
9. van der Merwe, Alan (5 February 2005). "Carroll fastest of the BAR young guns". crash.net. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
10. Duffy, David (16 November 2006). "Rossiter named as Honda test driver". oxfordmail.co.uk.
11. Duffy, David (16 May 2007). "Rossiter joins Super Aguri". oxfordmail.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
12. "USF1 had actually signed two drivers". crash.net. March 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
13. Cooper, Adam. USF1 Had Signed Rossiter As Well As Lopez Archived 3 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine , Speed Channel, 1 March 2010, Retrieved 1 March 2010
14. Watkins, Gary (11 January 2011). "Autoweek.com". IndyCar: Lotus driver James Rossiter eyes race seat at KV Racing Technology. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
15. "ROSSITER MISSES OUT ON PRACTICE CHANCE". eurosport.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
16. "James Rossiter returns to ByKolles LMP1 squad for two WEC rounds". Autosport.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
17. Thural, Rachit (20 May 2022). "Peugeot reveals final 9X8 WEC Hypercar, Rossiter in for Monza". Autosport.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
18. Golding, Nick (7 October 2022). "Maserati MSG Racing Announce James Rossiter as Team Principal". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
19. Smith, Luke (20 October 2017). "Mortara joins Venturi for Formula E season four". crash.net. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
20. "TECHEETAH Formula E Announces James Rossiter as Development Driver". dstecheetah.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
21. Kalinauckas, Alex (13 January 2019). "Muller tops Marrakesh Formula E test for Audi". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
22. Fry, Frances. "ROSSITER SITS IN FOR VERGNE IN MARRAKESH FP1". e-racing.net. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
23. "Maserati MSG Racing announces James Rossiter as team principal". FIA Formula E . 7 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
24. "Max scores Maserati's first single-seater victory since 1957". maseratimsgracing.com. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
25. Smith, Sam (16 October 2023). "Shock Pre-Season Exit For Maserati Formula E Team Boss Rossiter". the-race.com. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
26. "James Rossiter". Driver Database. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
27. "James Rossiter: Racedriver biography – career and success". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
28. "James Rossiter". Motor Sport . Retrieved 27 August 2023.
29. "James Rossiter Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
30. "James Rossiter – 2008 American Le Mans Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
31. "James Rossiter – 2011 American Le Mans Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
32. "James Rossiter". Automobile Club de l'Ouest . Retrieved 27 August 2023.
33. "2013 24 Hours of Le Mans". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
34. "James Rossiter". FIA World Endurance Championship . Retrieved 27 August 2023.

External links

• James Rossiter career summary at DriverDB.com
• James Rossiter's news
• James Rossiter's profile