Rodríguez began his European single-seater career in Spanish Formula Renault in 1993. He moved to British Formula Renault in 1994 and remained there through 1996, progressing steadily before graduating to British Formula 3000 in 1996 and 1997. His results in British F3000 were sufficient to earn a place in the International Formula 3000 series.
Rodríguez competed in International Formula 3000 for three seasons, establishing himself as a consistent front-runner. In 1997 he scored half a championship point, finishing 22nd overall, but the season was primarily one of development. His second season, 1998, was a breakthrough: he won at Spa-Francorchamps and the Nürburgring and finished third in the championship with 33 points. He repeated third place in 1999, adding a further victory at Monaco and accumulating 27 points. His three-year points total and multiple victories made him one of the most decorated South American drivers in the series' history at the time of his death.
For the 1999 CART season, Rodríguez joined Team Penske, one of American open-wheel racing's most storied organisations, as a team-mate to Al Unser Jr. He drove a Lola B99/00 chassis powered by a Mercedes IC108E engine. He made his series debut at the Detroit Grand Prix, where he finished twelfth and scored one championship point — the only CART points finish of his career.
On 11 September 1999, during a practice session for the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca, Rodríguez overshot the braking point at the entry of the Corkscrew corner — an abrupt left-right combination that crests a steep hill on the circuit's back section. His car struck a tyre barrier and slammed into a concrete wall, causing a fatal basilar skull fracture. He was 28 years old. A stuck throttle was initially suspected as a contributing factor, but examination of the telemetry data refuted this.
In his subsequent biography, Al Unser Jr. raised a mechanical issue specific to the Lola B99/00: the Hewland gearbox installed in that chassis could jam into neutral when downshifted too quickly, a characteristic not present in the Xtrac gearboxes used in the Penske and Reynard chassis of other CART competitors at the time. Unser suggested this may have contributed to Rodríguez losing speed control at the Corkscrew entry.
At the time of the crash, Rodríguez had already signed a contract to drive for Patrick Racing in the 2000 CART season. Reports at the time also linked him to discussions with Minardi regarding a Formula One seat for 2001.
Following the accident, an additional tyre wall was installed at the end of the straight feeding into the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. In 2014, a feature documentary titled Gonchi was released covering his life and racing career. The Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez, established in his memory in Uruguay, promotes child road safety education. Rodríguez remains the most successful Uruguayan driver in international single-seater racing history.
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