Urrutia's connection to motorsport began at age three on his grandfather's farm in Uruguay, where he rode dirt motorcycles before transitioning to go-kart racing at five. He proved prodigious in regional competition, winning the Argentine Pre Junior Championship and the Metropolitan Mini Junior Apertura Championship in 2009, followed by the Uruguayan Master Championship in 2010.
His international karting breakthrough came at the 2010 Karting World Championship, where he qualified fifth for the pre-final before being caught up in incidents in the final. In 2011, still just fourteen, Urrutia relocated to Italy to compete in the WSK Euro Series KF3 and the Formula Abarth series. He claimed the Formula Abarth Rookie of the Year award in 2012 and participated in the Ferrari Driving Academy.
In 2013, Urrutia entered the European F3 Open Championship, taking race victories at the Algarve International Circuit and Silverstone. The following year he stepped up to the GP3 Series with Finnish team Koiranen GP, gaining valuable experience at the highest rung of the European single-seater ladder below Formula 2.
Urrutia's American chapter began in 2015 when he joined Team Pelfrey in the Pro Mazda Championship. He clinched the title at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca — a venue of deep significance to Uruguayan motorsport, as fellow countryman Gonzalo Rodríguez had lost his life there in a practice accident sixteen years and one day earlier. The championship made Urrutia the first Uruguayan driver to win a major international racing series.
Stepping up to Indy Lights with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2016, Urrutia was a championship contender throughout the season. A double-header sweep at Mid-Ohio briefly put him at the top of the standings, but he ultimately lost the title to Ed Jones by two points after a controversial final-round outcome in which Jones's teammate allowed Jones past to secure the championship. Urrutia returned to Indy Lights in 2017 with Belardi Auto Racing, scoring two wins and six second-place finishes to finish runner-up in the standings to Kyle Kaiser.
After the 2017 season, Urrutia reached a handshake agreement to drive in the 2018 IndyCar Series with Harding Racing, but the team withdrew the offer and also failed to pay a $100,000 sum owed as part of the arrangement. He completed a third Indy Lights season with Belardi in 2018 instead, keeping his career in motion while IndyCar prospects stalled.
Urrutia pivoted to touring cars in 2019, joining Team WRT in the TCR Europe series. He finished third in the championship and earned Rookie of the Year honours, announcing himself as a serious talent in the increasingly competitive TCR category.
A planned return to Indy Lights with HMD Motorsports for 2020 was cancelled when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the American racing calendar. Urrutia instead ran in the Formula Regional Americas Championship opener and then accepted a test opportunity with Cyan Racing's WTCR programme. Impressive in testing, he was signed for the full 2020 WTCR season alongside Thed Björk in the Cyan Performance Lynk & Co squad.
His debut WTCR campaign in 2020 ended sixth in the standings, with multiple podiums and a race victory at the season finale. In 2021, Urrutia raised his level further, taking two wins and three additional podiums to finish fifth in the championship. The 2022 season brought two more victories before Cyan Performance withdrew from WTCR mid-campaign over safety concerns related to tyre behaviour, cutting the season short.
Returning for 2023, Urrutia won three races — including a memorable victory on home soil in Uruguay and another at the Bathurst International — finishing eighth in the standings. Those results demonstrated the breadth of circuits on which he could perform, from street circuits in Europe to the historic Mount Panorama layout in Australia.
Santiago Urrutia's career bridges two very different worlds of motorsport: the oval-influenced, high-downforce environment of American open-wheel racing and the door-to-door, front-wheel-drive intensity of TCR competition. His 2015 Pro Mazda title gave Uruguay its first major international motorsport champion, and his subsequent consistency in the WTCR with Cyan Performance Lynk & Co established him as one of the series' most dependable frontrunners. His willingness to adapt — crossing from single-seaters to touring cars after IndyCar doors closed — reflects both versatility and competitive longevity.