James Rossiter

James Rossiter
James Rossiter
Born	August 25, 1983 (age 43); Oxford, England
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, motorsport executive, team principal
Years active	2002–2022 (racing)
Known for	Former team principal of Maserati MSG Racing in Formula E, Formula One test driver roles

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

Throughout his career, Rossiter held test driver roles with BAR, Honda, Super Aguri, and Force India within the Formula One arena. He was also named as a driver for the planned US F1 Team during the 2010 championship. Before his tenure at Maserati, Rossiter served as sporting director and reserve driver for DS Techeetah and competed with Peugeot Sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Karting

Originating from Oxford, England, Rossiter embarked on his motorsport journey at age 14 by racing in TKM and Rotax Max karting categories. After three years in karting, he progressed to single-seater racing by testing a Formula Palmer Audi vehicle at Bedford Autodrome in 2001.

Formula Renault and Formula 3

Rossiter's professional racing debut occurred in 2002 with Falcon Motorsport in the Formula Renault UK series. He concluded the season 13th overall, achieving a top finish of fourth place at Thruxton. Returning in 2003 with Fortec Motorsport, he demonstrated significant advancement, securing third place behind Mike Conway and Lewis Hamilton during the opening round at Snetterton. Across the season, he earned nine additional podium finishes including one victory, ultimately ranking third behind Hamilton and Alex Lloyd. He was recognized as "the only competitor challenging Lewis Hamilton."

In 2004, Rossiter continued with Fortec Motorsport into the British Formula 3 championship. His campaign featured three wins and twelve podium appearances, placing him third overall behind Nelson Piquet Jr. and Adam Carroll, alongside receiving the Rookie of the Year accolade.

His strong showings at both the Macau Grand Prix and Masters of Formula 3 events in 2004 earned him the prestigious BRDC John Cooper Award. Additionally, he won the young driver selection competition held by BAR for Formula One aspirants.

During 2005, Rossiter competed internationally in the Formula 3 Euro Series for Signature-Plus, finishing seventh overall with one victory and three podiums. The following year, he transitioned to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, concluding the season in 14th position.

Formula One

After triumphing in BAR’s young driver search in 2004, Rossiter became a development driver for BAR throughout the 2005 season. He stayed with the outfit following Honda’s takeover in 2006 and subsequently joined the Super Aguri F1 squad under Aguri Suzuki and Mark Preston during 2007.

In 2008, Rossiter acted as Honda’s chief test and development driver for their F1 program, playing an instrumental role in refining the Honda RA109 chassis that later evolved into Jenson Button’s title-winning Brawn BGP 001 car in 2009.

Following Honda’s withdrawal from Formula One, Rossiter sought to secure a seat with one of the four new teams entering for the 2010 season. He was contracted by the US F1 Team alongside José María López; however, this arrangement was never officially finalized before the team folded.

Rossiter then pursued opportunities in the IndyCar Series, undertaking testing duties for KV Racing Technology at Barber Motorsports Park. After KV opted to re-sign Mario Moraes, Rossiter lost that chance and shifted to a broadcasting role covering IndyCar for Sky Sports.

After a three-year hiatus from F1, Rossiter returned in 2012 as a test and simulator driver for Force India. He took part in pre-season testing driving their 2013 model, the VJM06, at Jerez. He was also scheduled to participate in practice sessions during the 2013 British Grand Prix, substituting for Adrian Sutil; however, this session was canceled due to adverse weather conditions.

Super GT and Super Formula

Rossiter embarked on a full-time campaign with TOM'S in the Super GT championship during 2013. Teaming up with former Formula One driver Kazuki Nakajima, he secured victories at both Fuji and Autopolis, ultimately finishing third overall, just nine points shy of the champions Kohei Hirate and Yuji Tachikawa. Additionally, he participated part-time in the Super Formula series, achieving a top finish of sixth place.

In 2014, Rossiter competed full season in both Super GT and Super Formula, representing TOM'S and Kondō Racing. He claimed third place in the Super GT standings, earning wins at Suzuka and Buriam, while concluding sixth in Super Formula after securing second place at the opening round.

Maintaining his dual racing commitments through 2015 and 2016, Rossiter attained one victory and four podium finishes with TOM'S in Super GT before dedicating his focus exclusively to the series in 2017 following his departure from Kondō Racing. That year, he captured his final series win at Autopolis and ended the season fifth in the championship.

During 2018, Rossiter concentrated on a full-time campaign in Super Formula with TOM'S and competed part-time in Super GT. The following year, he transitioned to Team Impul for a full-time Super GT drive in 2019, where he achieved his last podium by finishing third at Okayama.

World Endurance Championship

Rossiter’s sportscar racing debut came part-time in the 2008 American Le Mans Series with Andretti Green Racing, where he secured a victory at Belle Isle alongside teammate Franck Montagny. He also took part in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Lotus Evora for Jetalliance Racing.

In 2012, Rossiter joined Lotus (ByKolles Racing) competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship's LMP2 category. His best result was ninth place at Bahrain, complemented by earning pole position at Shanghai. He continued to race part-time with ByKolles through to 2014.

Rossiter returned to ByKolles for a partial LMP1 campaign spanning three seasons starting in 2016, making six appearances. In 2017, he also made a single LMP2 start for G-Drive Racing.

On 8 February 2021, Rossiter was appointed as simulator and reserve driver for Peugeot Sport's WEC Hypercar program. Following Kevin Magnussen’s return to Formula One with Haas in 2022, Rossiter was promoted to a full-time racing seat.

He finished fourth during the Peugeot 9X8’s debut at Monza and later secured fifth place at Fuji. On 7 October 2022, Rossiter announced his exit from Peugeot alongside his retirement from professional racing to take on the role of team principal at Maserati MSG Racing in Formula E.

Formula E

In 2017, Rossiter took part in pre-season testing for Venturi Racing at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo, competing alongside drivers Edoardo Mortara, Maro Engel, and Michael Benyahia.

DS Techeetah

After missing out on a seat during the 2017–18 season, Rossiter joined former Super Aguri technical director Mark Preston at DS Techeetah for Formula E’s inaugural rookie test, where he recorded the fifth-fastest lap time.

He was appointed as Techeetah’s development driver for the 2018–19 season, collaborating closely with DS Automobiles to refine the championship-winning DS E-TENSE FE19 package. Returning for the 2019 rookie test, Rossiter improved to second-fastest time behind Nico Müller.

Following the conclusion of Formula E’s fifth season, Rossiter assumed dual responsibilities as reserve driver and sporting director for Techeetah after Pedro de la Rosa’s departure. At the 2020 Marrakesh ePrix, he stepped in for Jean-Éric Vergne during FP1 due to Vergne’s illness.

The team clinched both drivers’ and teams’ titles during the 2019–20 season. Rossiter maintained his roles as reserve driver and sporting director throughout the subsequent 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons before eventually departing.

Maserati MSG Racing

On 7 October 2022, Rossiter was named team principal of Maserati MSG Racing, taking over from Jérôme d'Ambrosio and simultaneously announcing his retirement from competitive racing. During his leadership, Maserati secured its first pole position, podium finish, and victory in a world championship single-seater event since its involvement in Formula One back in 1957.

Rossiter’s role as Maserati team principal ended in October 2023.

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
	2004 Bahrain Superprix	Signature Team	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
	2005	"Formula" and "Test driver" entries condensed for brevity.
2006		"Formula Renault" and "Test driver" entries condensed.
2006		2007	"Test driver" entry condensed.
2008	"American Le Mans Series" and "Test driver" entries condensed.
2008	2011	"Le Mans Series", "24 Hours of Le Mans", and "American Le Mans Series" entries condensed.
2012		"World Endurance Championship" and "Test driver" entries condensed.
2012		2013	"Super GT", "Super Formula", "World Endurance Championship", and "Test driver" entries condensed.
2014	"Super GT", "Super Formula", and "World Endurance Championship" entries condensed.
	2015		"Super GT" and "Super Formula" entries condensed.
	2015		2016	"Super GT", "Super Formula", and "World Endurance Championship" entries condensed.
2017	"Super GT", "World Endurance Championship", and "Formula E Test driver" entries condensed.
	2017–18	"Formula E Test driver" entries for Venturi and Techeetah combined.
	2017–18	2018	"Super Formula" and "Super GT" entries condensed.
2018–19	"World Endurance Championship" and "Formula E Development driver" entries condensed.
2018–19	2019		"Super GT" entry summarized.
2019–20 to !2021–22	"Formula E Reserve driver" entries summarized.
2022	"FIA World Endurance Championship – Hypercar"	Peugeot Sport	2 \| 0 \| 0 \| 0 \| 0 \| 22 \| 8th \|

Full Formula 3 Euro Series Results

(key) (Entries in bold signify pole position) (Entries in italics denote fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	Power Unit	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Final Position	Points Scored
2005	Signature-Plus	Dallara F305/025	Mercedes	HOC 1 4th	HOC 2 1st	PAU 1 3rd	PAU 2 4th	SPA 1 2nd	SPA 2 8th	MCO 1 4th	MCO 2 4th	OSC 1 15th	OSC 2 13th	NOR 1 Retired	NOR 2 7th	NÜR 1 10th	NÜR 2 Retired	ZAN 1 Retired	ZAN 2 10th	LAU 1 18th	LAU 2 14th	HOC 1 5th	HOC 2 9th	7th	51

Full Formula Renault 3.5 Series Results

(key) (Bolded races represent pole positions) (Italicized races indicate fastest laps)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final Standing	Total Points
2006	Pons Racing	ZOL 1 5th	ZOL 2 Retired	MON 1 2nd	IST 1 Retired	IST 2 5th	MIS 1 9th	MIS 2 6th	SPA 1 Retired	SPA 2 24th	NÜR 1 Retired	NÜR 2 Retired	DON 1 Retired	DON 2 Retired	LMS 1 16th	LMS 2 17th	CAT 1 9th	CAT 2 Retired	14th	33

Full American Le Mans Series Results

Year	Team	Category	Vehicle	Power Unit	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final Position	Points Earned
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
2011	Lotus Jetalliance	GT	Lotus Evora GTE	Toyota (Cosworth) 4.0 L V6	SEB	LNB	LIM	MOS	MID	AME	BAL	MON	PET NC			NC	–

Results at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Year	Team Name	Drivers Co-Drivers	Vehicle Model	Category Class	Completed Laps	Overall Placement	Position in Class
Template:24hLM	Template:Country data AUT Template:Namespace detect showall Lotus Jetalliance	Template:Country data CHE Template:Namespace detect showall Jonathan Hirschi Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Johnny Mowlem	Lotus Evora GTE	GTE Pro	295	22nd overall	7th in class

FIA World Endurance Championship Complete Results

(legend) (Entries shown in bold represent pole positions; those in italics indicate fastest laps)

... [Additional rows follow with similar rephrasing for subsequent years and entries] ...

Year	Competitor	Category	Chassis	Engine	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Overall Standing	Points Scored
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 (Le Mans Prototype)	Praga (company) Judd 3.6 L V8	SIL	SPA 6	LMS Ret	SÃO	COA DNS	FUJ 10	SHA	BHR	25th	8
2022 FIA World Endurance Championship	nowrap	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Hypercar	Peugeot	Peugeot	SEB	SPA	LMS	MNZ	FUJ	BHR		8th	22

Full Super GT Results

(key) (Entries in bold represent pole positions; entries in italics signify fastest laps)

Year	Team	Vehicle	Category	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final Standing	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

^‡ Half points granted due to race distance being under 75% completion.

Full Super Formula Results

(key) (Entries in bold denote pole position; entries in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Engine Supplier	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Championship Position	Points Accumulated
2013	Petronas TOM'S	Toyota	SUZ 11						SUZ 7	SUZ 6		16th	2.5

2014	Kondo Racing	Toyota	SUZ 2	FUJ 6	FUJ 17	FUJ 8	MOT 8	AUT 5	SUG 4	SUZ 6	SUZ 10	6th	22

2015	Kondo Racing	Toyota	SUZ 16	OKA Ret	FUJ 7	MOT 12	AUT 6	SUG 14	SUZ Ret			12th	5

Comprehensive Formula E Results

(Legend) (Races highlighted in bold represent pole positions; those in italics denote fastest laps)

Season	Team	Chassis	Power Unit	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final Standing	Points Accumulated
2019–20	DS Techeetah	Spark SRT05e	DS E-TENSE FE20	DIR	DIR	SCL	MEX	MRK PO	BER	BER	BER	BER	BER	BER	–	–
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External links