Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of two-time F1 champion and double Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, has signed with Haas as an official test driver for 2019.
The 22-year old Miami-born Brazilian will join the team at this year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, before getting the chance to take the VF-18 for a spin on the opening day of Pirelli’s two-day tire test in Abu Dhabi, after the race.
“I’m pleased to welcome Pietro Fittipaldi to Haas F1 Team and we look forward to working with him,” said team principal Guenther Steiner. “He brings a championship-winning pedigree from his junior open-wheel career, and more recently he has acquitted himself well running in the IndyCar series. We’re happy to provide Pietro his first test in a Formula One car off the back of those experiences. His subsequent role testing, and the feedback he’ll provide in support of our 2019 campaign, will no doubt further contribute to Haas F1 Team’s growth and development in Formula One.”
Fittipaldi secured three podiums in 2016 at the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, following that up with six wins, 10 podiums and 10 pole positions in 2017, winning the Formula V8 3.5 Championship.
Despite breaking both legs in an accident earlier this year at the World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, he returned to IndyCar at the end of July, completing five starts and finishing ninth at the Grand Prix of Portland in September.
“I’d like to thank Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner for the opportunity to join the team,” said Fittipaldi. “They’ve done an incredible job in Formula One, and to ask me to play a role in their continued success is naturally very exciting. I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the VF-18 in Abu Dhabi. I’ll carry that experience forward into 2019, and hopefully into a racing seat in Formula One in the future.”
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