Fittipaldi was scheduled to start his first Indy 500 in 2018 and drive for Dale Coyne Racing. However, a broken leg at Spa while training for a WEC race kept him out of an IndyCar cockpit until late July, and his obligations as a test driver for the Haas F1 team kept him away from IndyCars for the next two years.
After his friend and former Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean switched to IndyCar but avoided the big ovals, Fittipaldi has returned to Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda as an oval replacement for Grosjean.
His Texas results were no indicator of Fittipaldi’s speed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which terrified many. The No. 51 car drove a four-lap average of 230.846 mph, finishing 13th, inside the fifth row in Indy’s famous 11×3 field.
Fittipaldi said: “We knew we had a good car [on Fast Friday]. With all the pressure and hype, there are four days of training that just build on that. The nerves were there, it’s my first Indy 500 qualifying and it’s super intense.
“You have to go out and be involved and keep it open for four laps and that’s what we did. The car was amazing, the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR team did a great job. I’m just very happy to be here and super excited.
“We considered going back out at the end to get into the Fast Nine – I think the car had it in it – but at the end of the day we’re happy with where we qualified and we didn’t wants to risk it. “
Fittipaldi is the grandson of Emerson Fittipaldi, who won the Indy 500 in 1989 and 1993, won the Indy Championship in 1989, and won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1972 and 1974.
In the 105th round of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, Pietro Fittipaldi competes against nine drivers who have won the fastest Indy rookie award. Juan Pablo Montoya (2000), Tony Kanaan (’02), Scott Dixon (’03), Marco Andretti (’06), JR Hildebrand (’11), Josef Newgarden (’12), Alexander Rossi (’16), Colton Herta (’19) and Rinus VeeKay (’20).
The next goal is the Rookie of the Year Award, which Pietro’s uncle Christian Fittipaldi earned with a second place in 1995 and which was only beaten by the future Indy car and F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve.
Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne Racing and RWR Honda received the Indy 500 Fastest Rookie Award from Josef Newgarden, 2012 winner.
Photo by: Pietro Fittipaldi
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