Haas places Fittipaldi in place of Grosjean in Sakhir, and Brazil has F1 driver again

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After almost three years, Brazil will once again have a driver on the Formula 1 World Championship grid. Haas announced on Monday morning (30) that Pietro Fittipaldi will replace Romain Grosjean, injured after the serious accident suffered. in the first lap of the Bahrain GP, ​​in the race that takes place this weekend in the outer ring of the Sakhir circuit. 24-year-old Brazilian born in Miami, grandson of Emerson Fittipaldi, is one of Haas’s reserves and will make his Formula 1 debut.

Pietro understands that, given the situation that surrounds the owner of Haas, it is not the ideal setting to debut in Formula 1. The Brazilian, however, says he is grateful to the Haas summit for the opportunity to race in the main category of the motoring. .

“First of all, I am happy that Romain [Grosjean] is safe and sound. Fortunately, the injuries were considerably less after a serious accident. Obviously, it is not the ideal condition to have my first opportunity to compete in Formula 1, but I am extremely grateful to Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner for the confidence to get in the car this weekend, “he said.

“I was with the team a lot this year, on the track and working on the simulator, so I am familiar with the operations and procedures of a race weekend. It will be very exciting to do my first race in Formula 1 and I will do my best, starting with Friday’s free practice in Bahrain, ”he added.

“After deciding that the best for Romain [Grosjean] would be skipping at least one race, Pietro’s choice [Fittipaldi] it was pretty easy. Pietro will fly the VF-20 and has been familiar with us for the last two seasons as a test and reserve pilot. It’s the right thing to do and obviously a great opportunity for him. He was patient and always prepared for that moment, and now he is here, ”said Guenther Steiner, director of Haas.

“That’s why we want him in the car and we are sure that he will do a great job. It is very difficult to be called at the last minute, as I said, but I think it is the right thing to do for Haas, ”added the Italian leader.

Brother of Enzo Fittipaldi, who competed in Formula 3 this year, Pietro will be the 31st Brazilian driver to participate in a Formula 1 World Championship. Massa, who did his last race and said goodbye to F1 at the Abu Dhabi GP 2017.

The last race contested by Pietro Fittipaldi was on the Buriram stage of Asian Formula 3, in February 2020. The driver began his career racing in the Nascar base divisions in the United States and changed his focus to European motorsport in 2013, when running in English F4.

The following year, he was champion of the English F-Renault and, in 2015, he competed in European Formula 3 for Fortec. Fittipaldi also raced and won the MRF Challenge, a grassroots championship played in the Middle East and China, before moving on with Fortec to the former Renault World Series, also called Formula V8.

In the category, already in a decadent phase, Fittipaldi won the title of the 2017 season, guaranteeing most of the points of the super license that today allows him the possibility of making his debut in Formula 1.

Fittipaldi did a day of testing with Jaguar in Formula E before joining Haas’ radar since 2018, when he had the opportunity to do his first test with a Formula 1 car. That year, Pietro split between several categories, making six races for Dale Coyne at Indy, a stage of Japanese Super Formula.

Also in 2018, Fittipaldi suffered a serious accident during the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours training of the 2018/19 World Endurance super season, while driving the LMP1 of the Dragon Speed ​​team.

Following his career, already as a reserve driver for Haas, Fittipaldi had six days of testing by the North American team in 2019, in addition to competing the entire DTM season for the WRT team, linked to Audi, having scored 22 points and finished the championship in the 15th place.

Now, in 2020, Fittipaldi has an unexpected opportunity to finally fulfill his dream of competing in a Formula One World Championship.