Pietro Fittipaldi’s career in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship looks set to be limited to only two Grands Prix as the Haas F1 Team reserve driver had hoped for a permanent place in the most prominent racing series in the world, but has now once again had to settle for another series when he joins the reigning LMP2 class champion JOTA Sport for the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
Fittipaldi competed in two races at the back end of the 2020 Formula 1 season in place of the injured Romain Grosjean after the Frenchmans fiery crash in Bahrain, with the Brazilian finishing seventeenth in the first-ever Sakhir Grand Prix and then nineteenth in the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, he returned to the role of reserve driver for 2021 and has had relatively limited opportunities to drive for the team since.
Fittipaldi has raced in the WEC before, but not regularly. He competed in the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans with Inter Europol Competition and had a limited program with the DragonSpeed LMP1 team in the 2018-19 series. He unfortunately broke his leg during training for the opening race at Spa-Francorchamps, which also heavily affected his planned season in the NTT IndyCar Series.
The JOTA team, who are is currently the reigning LMP2 champions, has signed the Brazilian for the upcoming season. Fittipaldi will compete in all of seven rounds throughout the season, starting with 1000 Miles of Sebring in March. He will be joined at the team by Danish drivers Oliver Rasmussen and David Heinemeier Hansson.
However, it is still unknown whether the Brazilian will remain as Haas test and reserve driver with a confirmation on this expected shortly. He impressed the team with his ability behind the wheel during his two free practice outings in 2022 as well as in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season, so another year as reserve driver is expected.
