Who Drives the Popemobile? Inside the Secretive Rules Behind the Pope’s Iconic Ride

Discover who really drives the Popemobile during papal trips—and why even top racers like Fernando Alonso were denied the chance.

Newsroom (10/04/2026 Gaudium Press ) When Pope Leo XIV visits Spain this June, one old question has resurfaced: who is allowed to drive the Popemobile? The issue—apparently simple—has a surprisingly guarded answer.

During a recent press conference, Yago de la Cierva, one of the coordinators of the papal visit, recalled a nearly forgotten episode from 2011, when Pope Benedict XVI came to Spain. De la Cierva revealed that he had once proposed a daring idea: asking Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso to take the wheel of the Popemobile. “I had asked specifically if Fernando Alonso could drive the Popemobile,” he said. “They were outraged and told us: ‘absolutely not.’”

De la Cierva defended the notion at the time, insisting the Spanish racing legend “knew how to drive” and that “the Pope was not in danger.” But he eventually learned that, according to Vatican protocol, the Popemobile is strictly off-limits to civilian drivers. “A police officer should drive it,” he recounted, “not a two-time Formula 1 world champion.”

Speaking later to ACI Prensa, De la Cierva clarified that the driver “is always a police officer” and that these individuals “never give interviews due to security issues.” Their names, positions, and even photographs are kept confidential—and for good reason.

When asked for further insight, ACI Prensa consulted Fr. Luis Gaspar, executive director of Pope Francis’s 2018 visit to Lima, Peru. The priest explained that while “there is no official public list detailing the requirements for driving the Popemobile,” Vatican tradition makes it clear that the role is reserved for members of the host country’s security forces. “It is not an ordinary driver,” he emphasized.

The Popemobile’s route often cuts through dense, cheering crowds. That exposure raises the risk level dramatically, meaning the vehicle must be operated only by someone with “specialized training” and full integration into both national and Vatican security teams. “The driver must have a great capacity for reaction, prudence, and operational obedience,” Gaspar said.

In Peru, for instance, the Popemobile was driven by handpicked officers of the National Police of Peru. Each city—Lima, Trujillo, and Puerto Maldonado—had its own assigned driver. These officers worked under a unified command: the Ministry of the Interior, in close coordination with the Vatican Gendarmerie, the elite security corps that travels with the Holy Father.

Despite repeated inquiries, the Vatican Press Office has not confirmed whether there are additional formal requirements for those entrusted with the task. The lack of transparency, however, is in keeping with the Popemobile’s purpose: ensuring absolute discretion and security.

Behind the clear bulletproof glass, the Pope waves to throngs of faithful. But behind the wheel, invisible to most, sits not a celebrity chauffeur or a volunteer driver—but a silent, specially trained guardian. In the Vatican’s eyes, only that level of anonymity and discipline can be trusted when the most visible man in the world is on the move.

• Raju Hasmukh with files from ACI Prensa

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