Pietro Fittipaldi admitted he was anticipating the chance to become a full-time Formula 1 driver after a vacancy opened up at Haas.
Team principal Guenther Steiner said the team’s reserve driver would have the “first call” on the seat which opened up after Nikita Mazepin was dropped in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But while Fittipaldi was given the chance to drive the car in this week’s test, Haas confirmed yesterday former driver Kevin Magnussen had been rehired to take Mazepin’s place.
“I had to fight through a lot of adversity in my career already and this is just something else,” said Fittipaldi after his first run in the team’s VF-22 today. “The only thing I can do now is work even harder.”
The US-born grandson of two-times world champion Emerson Fittipaldi made his F1 debut for Haas as a substitute in two races at the end of 2020. He said he’d kept his emotions under control but was disappointed to have been passed over for the drive.
“For…