Latvala began driving at the age of eight after receiving a Ford Escort from his father Jari Latvala, also a rally driver and 1994 national champion in the Group N class. At ten, he began practicing with an Opel Ascona on a frozen lake. His first world rally was the 2002 Rally Great Britain at the age of 17, finishing 17th with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI.
In 2003, Latvala competed in four WRC events with a Ford Focus WRC, finishing tenth at the Acropolis Rally, 17th at the Rallye Deutschland, 14th at the Neste Oil Rally Finland, and tenth at the Rally Great Britain. In 2004, he mostly competed with an S1600 class Junior World Rally Championship car, with his best overall WRC result being 21st with a Group N Subaru Impreza WRX STI at the Tour de Corse. In 2005, Latvala competed in nine world rallies — six with the Group N Impreza and three with a World Rally Car — recording a best overall result of 16th on three occasions.
In 2006, Latvala competed in 11 world rallies across three different cars. His best results came in the final three events: he won the Production Car World Rally Championship class at the Telstra Rally Australia and finished sixth overall; won the PCWRC again at the Propecia Rally New Zealand and finished eighth overall; and recorded a career-best fourth place at the season-ending Rally Great Britain in the Focus WRC. These results placed him 13th overall in the drivers' championship.
In 2007, Latvala ran a full 16-event programme for Stobart M-Sport Ford alongside Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg. After retirements in Monte Carlo and Sweden, he was in contention for a first podium at the Rally Norway but took a 90-second time penalty and finished fifth. He recorded his first WRC stage win during that event. He took his first podium at the 2007 Rally Ireland. At the season-closing Rally GB, he lost ten minutes on the last stage of day one due to windscreen wiper failure but won ten of the remaining eleven stages under SuperRally rules.
In 2008, Latvala joined Ford's factory team as a number two driver, partnering Mikko Hirvonen and replacing Marcus Grönholm. At the 2008 Swedish Rally he won all regular special stages on day one and managed the position to take victory, becoming the youngest winner in WRC history at 22 years old. The previous record was held by Henri Toivonen, who was 24 years and 86 days old when he won the 1980 RAC Rally. Latvala was awarded the Abu Dhabi Spirit Of The Rally award for his performance at Rally Sweden. At the 2008 Rally México he led throughout the first day before turbo problems on day two dropped him to third.
The 2009 season brought difficulties, with Latvala retiring in three of the first four rallies. In Portugal, he and Miikka Anttila rolled 17 times down a 150-metre steep hill and came to rest against a tree, their most serious accident together. After a consistent drive in Argentina, Latvala won Rally Sardinia from start to finish for his second WRC career win.
Latvala remained with the Ford factory team for 2010. He finished third in Sweden, fifth in Mexico, second in Jordan, and won dramatically in New Zealand. He won his home event in Finland while teammate Hirvonen retired there, moving 19 points ahead of Hirvonen in the standings. After further results including third in Germany and Japan, he concluded the season with a podium in Wales to finish second in the overall drivers' championship behind Sébastien Loeb.
In 2012, Latvala was promoted to Ford's number one driver following Hirvonen's departure to Citroën. He won in Sweden as Ford's lead driver, but suffered retirements in Monte Carlo, Mexico, and Portugal.
For 2013, Latvala signed with the new Volkswagen WRC team, citing Ford's decision to end its works programme as the key factor. He won in Greece and collected seven podiums in 13 races, finishing third in the championship behind teammates Ogier and Neuville. In 2014, he won four rallies — Sweden, Argentina, Finland, and Alsace — with eight podiums in 13 races, finishing runner-up behind Ogier. In 2015, he won Portugal, Finland, and Corsica and collected four runner-up finishes, again ranked second behind Ogier. In 2016, he won in Mexico and finished second in Italy and Finland, ending sixth in the overall standings.
Following Volkswagen Motorsport's withdrawal from the WRC, Latvala and Anttila joined the Toyota Gazoo factory team for 2017. He won in Sweden, finished second at Monte Carlo and Italy, and fourth at Corsica, ending fourth in points. In 2018, he collected four podiums in the last six events and won the final round, Kennards Hire Rally Australia, for his first victory in 21 months. He finished fourth in the 2018 driver championship. In 2019, he scored two third-place finishes — at his home Rally Finland after colliding with a loose rock, and in Germany — before finishing the season seventh, his lowest since 2007.
For 2020, Latvala was confirmed for Sweden and Finland in a privately run Toyota Yaris WRC under the Latvala Motorsport banner, with Juho Hänninen as co-driver.
On 18 December 2020, it was announced that Latvala would become team principal at Toyota Gazoo Racing for 2021, replacing Tommi Mäkinen. In 2023, he announced a one-off return to WRC competition at Rally Finland in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
Latvala also manages the private enterprise Latvala Motorsport with his wife and family, administered from a custom-built location in Tuuri. The facility includes a museum of rally cars from his personal collection, memorabilia, official merchandise, a rentable business auditorium, and a rally simulator. It is open to the public during the summer months.
In 2008, Latvala moved from Finland to Monaco. In 2020, he relocated to Tuuri, Finland. Latvala was engaged to Finnish celebrity Maisa Torppa from 2017 to 2019.
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