Rahal Letterman Lanigan on Monday hired Pietro Fittipaldi, the current reserve driver for the Haas Formula One team, to race its third car in the IndyCar Series next season.
Fittipaldi, the Brazilian-American grandson of 1989 IndyCar champion and two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, has nine career starts in IndyCar but none since the 2021 season. He was in Austin, Texas, all weekend as Haas' reserve driver.
Fittipaldi will drive the No. 30 that had been piloted by Jack Harvey until his late-season release. RLL then used several different drivers in the car as it researched its options.
Fittipaldi was not one of the drivers used by RLL in the No. 30.
Bobby Rahal said he was impressed with Fittipaldi's work in IndyCar while driving three races for Dale Coyne Racing in 2021. Fittipaldi qualified 13th for the Indianapolis 500 that year.
“I have been impressed with the maturity and experience that he will now bring to our program,” Rahal said. "I look forward to seeing what he can do over a full season of IndyCar competition in 2024.”
Fittipaldi will be teammates with Christian Lundgaard, and presumably Graham Rahal, who has yet to announce he's signed an extension to join the team.
IndyCar said it will not need to make any adjustments to race control, where Fittipaldi's uncle, Max Papis, is one of the stewards.
“Max is removed from anything that would have effect on outcome/calls with Pietro,” IndyCar said in a statement.
Fittipaldi ran six races in 2018 that included a career-best finish of ninth at Portland. He was supposed to run more races that season but broke both legs in a crash at the Six Hours of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in May of that year.
Fittipaldi has spent the last several years as Haas' reserve driver and made two race starts in 2020, with a best finish of 17th in Bahrain.
“I am extremely proud and honored to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing," Fittipaldi said. “With the experience I’ve gained over the last few years in F1 and other racing series, I am looking forward to the challenge of racing in IndyCar, one of the most competitive and versatile racing series in the world.”
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