Pietro Fittipaldi
Pietro Fittipaldi, 27, most recently served as the official reserve and test driver for Haas F1 Team for five consecutive seasons (2019-2023) and will compete in his first full NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in 2024 after having made nine series starts in 2018 and 2021.
Fittipaldi was born in Miami, Florida and is a grandson of two-time FIA Formula 1 World Champion (1972, 1974) and double Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi (1989, 1993). He rose through America’s karting ranks from 2006-10 before making his debut in stock cars in 2011, where he was crowned champion and “Rookie of the Year” in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series for Limited Late Models.
A move to the Late Models category in 2012 earned another “Rookie of the Year” title for the Brazilian, followed by victory in the Pepsi 200 Fall Brawl, the biggest Late Model race of the year. Switching to open-wheel racing for 2013, and relocating to Europe, Fittipaldi competed in the British-based BRDC Formula 4 Championship and the BARC Formula Renault Championship.
A dominating 2014 season in the Protyre Formula Renault Championship delivered a title with 10 wins from 15 starts. Fittipaldi graduated to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2016, scoring three podiums, and raced in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, winning the series title courtesy of four victories from nine podium finishes.
Another open-wheel title followed when Fittipaldi won the Formula V8 3.5 Championship in 2017 with six wins, 10 podiums, and a series-record 10 pole positions (previous record held by Kevin Magnussen/Daniel Ricciardo).
In 2018, Fittipaldi returned to the United States to compete in the INDYCAR SERIES with Dale Coyne Racing, his deal commencing with April’s event in Phoenix. His race program was curtailed, however, after breaking both legs in an accident in May’s World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps while planning to participate in the full season.
Fittipaldi returned to his INDYCAR commitments at the end of July that season, making five more starts with a best finish of ninth place at the Grand Prix of Portland in September still racing with a fractured leg. In 2018 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Fittipaldi was signed as Haas F1 Team’s official 2019 reserve and test driver. He capped his year with a Formula 1 debut steering the team’s VF-18 at the post-season Pirelli tire test.
2019 saw Fittipaldi combine a season competing for Audi Sport Team WRT and Team Rosberg in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), with testing and development duties behind the wheel of the Haas VF-19 – testing in Spain, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi, as well as extensive simulator development throughout the season.
Continuing in 2020 as reserve and test driver, Fittipaldi subsequently made his debut in F1 with two grand prix starts for the Haas F1 Team standing in for the injured Romain Grosjean at the Sakhir Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.
In 2021 and 2022, he continued as the Haas F1 Team reserve and test driver and took part in F1 free practice sessions as part of mandated “rookie” sessions and carried out pre and post-season test duties for the team. Also in 2021, he competed in the European Le Mans Series with Team InterEuropol, securing the team’s best finish in their history with second place at Spa-Francorchamps and their best qualifying position of third in Monza.
While simultaneously continuing as Haas F1 Team’s reserve and test driver in 2023, he competed in the World Endurance Championship with Team JOTA. A season highlight was a victory in the Six Hours of Monza World Endurance Championship race in the LMP2 class.
