Emerson Fittipaldi's grandson has spent years as a Formula One reserve, raced in IndyCar and returned to sportscars after a serious crash in 2018.
Two Formula One starts for Haas in 2020 are the headline of Pietro Fittipaldi's career so far. He was also a Haas reserve for years, raced in IndyCar and now competes in IMSA sportscars for Pratt Miller. Since then he has been a sportscar regular.
Pietro Fittipaldi, of Brazilian and American nationality, has spent much of his career as a reserve. He raced in two Formula One Grands Prix for Haas in 2020, was IndyCar's Dale Coyne and Rahal driver in several seasons, and has since become a full-time sportscar competitor. Emerson Fittipaldi, a two-time world champion, is his grandfather, and Enzo is his younger brother.
Where did Fittipaldi's racing start?
Fittipaldi was born in Miami, Florida, on 25 June 1996. He began in karting and moved on to stock cars in 2011, racing in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for two seasons. In 2011 he won the track championship at Hickory Motor Speedway, and in 2012 he took a race win and finished fifth in the series standings.
In 2013 he moved to Europe to chase an open-wheel career, debuting in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship and the Protyre Formula Renault series. He won the Protyre title in 2014 with one race left to run. A year later he won the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 title over the 2015 and 2016 seasons, taking four wins from fourteen races.
Two Formula One starts, a full IndyCar season, and a return from serious injury in about two and a half months.
How did Fittipaldi progress through single-seaters?
In 2015 he drove for Fortec in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. His best results were sixth places at Algarve, and he finished 17th in the standings with 32 points. He stayed with Fortec in 2016 for the Formula V8 3.5 Series, alongside the rookie Louis Delettraz, but he managed only one podium and finished tenth, eight places behind his teammate.
He stayed in the World Series category and went on to dominate the 2017 championship with six wins, finishing 44 points clear of Matevos Isaakyan. That season also marked the start of his work as a test driver for the Jaguar Formula E team, a role he held until 2019.
When did Fittipaldi first drive a Formula One car?
He was one of four drivers asked to test for Ferrari's junior academy in October 2014. His first run in a Formula One car came at Yas Marina, in a post-season session for Haas on 27 November 2018. In November 2018 Haas confirmed him as its official 2019 test driver, and he took part in the first pre-season test at Barcelona that February, followed by a Bahrain Young Driver Test and a mid-season test at Catalunya.
| Year | Role | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | FIA Formula 3 European, Fortec | 17th overall, 32 points |
| 2016 | Formula V8 3.5, Fortec | Tenth overall, one podium |
| 2017 | World Series Formula V8 3.5 | Champion with six wins |
| 2019 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Audi | 15th overall, 22 points, best fifth at Misano |
| 2020 | Formula One, Haas | Sakhir 17th, Abu Dhabi 19th |
| 2024 | IndyCar, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 13th at St Petersburg, his best result of the season |
How did Fittipaldi make his Formula One debut?
On 30 November 2020 Haas announced that Fittipaldi would race at the Sakhir Grand Prix, replacing Romain Grosjean, who had been hospitalised after a crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix with burns to his hands and ankles. The debut meant he was the first grandson of a Formula One champion to race in the sport, and the fourth Fittipaldi to do so.
He started last and finished 17th, the last of the cars that were still running. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said he had done a great job considering he had last driven a Formula One car a year earlier. Fittipaldi said he found it difficult for a driver to reach Formula One, and he was glad to finish his first race.
He stood in for Grosjean again at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. He qualified 19th and was moved up to 17th on the grid after penalties for other drivers. In the race a slow pit stop left him last of the running cars again, in 19th place, and he said afterwards that he hoped to stay involved in Formula One as a reserve.
What was Fittipaldi's role at Haas after 2020?
He was kept on in the Haas test and reserve role for 2021. In 2022 he drove the VF-22 on the first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, substituting for Nikita Mazepin after his contract was terminated. He was replaced for the rest of that test by Kevin Magnussen. Haas considered him for Mazepin's race seat, but chose Magnussen instead.
He drove in the free practice sessions at Mexico City and Abu Dhabi that year and took part in post-season testing. Haas kept him in the role for 2023, when he tested the VF-23 at a young drivers' test, and in 2024 he shared the reserve role with Oliver Bearman. He also drove the VF-24 alongside Bearman in a Pirelli tyre test at Silverstone.
How did Fittipaldi's IndyCar career develop?
In February 2018 he was signed to share the No. 19 Honda with Dale Coyne Racing on a part-time basis, replacing Zachary Claman DeMelo in six races. He retired from his debut at Phoenix after contact on lap forty. A first top-ten finish came at Portland, and he ended the year 26th in the standings.
He returned in 2021 for the oval races only, sharing a Dale Coyne car with Romain Grosjean, who entered only road and street rounds. He was the fastest rookie qualifier for that year's Indianapolis 500.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing confirmed on 23 October 2023 that he would drive its No. 30 Honda in 2024. At the opening round at St Petersburg he finished 13th, his best result of that season.
What is Fittipaldi's sportscar record?
Fittipaldi's sportscar career started with a serious accident. In May 2018, during the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, he lost steering at high speed and a wheel came into the cockpit, breaking both legs. Doctors first projected a year's recovery, but with rehabilitation and custom carbon-fibre braces he returned to racing about two and a half months afterwards.
In January 2023 Jota Sport signed him for a full season of endurance racing, alongside David Heinemeier Hansson and Oliver Rasmussen. He had lost a great deal of weight to suit that car, and later regained roughly 20 lb to cope with IndyCar's physical demands. That same year he took LMP2 honours at Monza's six-hour race.
Since 2023 he has taken part in IMSA's LMP2 category, driving for Rick Ware, then Inter Europol and then Pratt Miller. He joined Pratt Miller full-time for 2025, and that year he also returned to the European Le Mans Series with Vector Sport after a three-year break.
What is Fittipaldi's place in motorsport?
Fittipaldi has built a career across open-wheel racing, touring cars and sportscars, and he has done so while carrying a famous family name. His record in Formula One is limited to two races, but his reserve work at Haas and his IndyCar starts show a driver who has kept active in the top levels of the sport.
His recovery from the 2018 Spa crash, which might have ended his career, is one of the most notable parts of his story. He returned in roughly two and a half months and then moved on to full-time sportscar and IndyCar programmes.
