{"id":407757,"date":"2026-01-14T03:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T03:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407757\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T03:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T03:08:08","slug":"pedro-cueto-is-racing-to-become-formula-1s-first-amputee-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407757\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedro Cueto Is Racing To Become Formula 1\u2019s First Amputee Driver"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals.<\/p>\n

Pedro Cueto could have hit the brakes at any time. Like in 2021, when doctors diagnosed the then-six-year-old with a rare bone cancer in his right femur. Or during the 14 rounds of chemotherapy required before his doctors could say there was no more evidence of the disease. Or after two titanium prostheses were surgically implanted to replace most of his femur and stabilize his tibia. Throughout the ordeal, however, the Arvada Formula 1 fanatic continued to push himself toward the finish line.<\/p>\n

For Christmas in 2022, his parents rewarded his perseverance with a go-kart\u2014and Cueto quickly put it to good use. Racing up to 35 mph around hairpin turns, Cueto won the next year\u2019s Colorado Karting Tour<\/a> championship. \u201cI was unbelievably happy,\u201d Cueto says. But despite his success on the track, his leg continued to cause him pain. So in November 2024, doctors amputated the limb above the knee.<\/p>\n

Naturally, Cueto refused to let off the gas. His parents rigged his ride with a bike break on the steering wheel that he could use as a hand throttle, and Cueto spent this past summer sprinting up to 65 mph in Italy\u2019s karting series. Now 11, Cueto is set on becoming the world\u2019s first F1 amputee driver, with plans to continue his path toward that goal by racing in Europe and Las Vegas again this year. His advice to those following in his draft? \u201cDon\u2019t worry; it\u2019s going to be OK,\u201d Cueto says. \u201cJust keep pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis article was originally published in 5280 January 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Barbara
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Pedro Cueto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-407757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}