Pietro Fittipaldi da Cruz (born 25 June 1996) is a Brazilian and American racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Pratt Miller Motorsports, and in the European Le Mans Series for Vector Sport; he also serves as a reserve driver in Formula One for Haas and as a simulator driver for Cadillac. Fittipaldi competed under the Brazilian flag in Formula One at two Grands Prix in 2020, and the IndyCar Series between 2018 and 2024.
Born in Miami, Fittipaldi is the grandson of two-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion Emerson Fittipaldi and the older brother of racing driver Enzo. Graduating from karting to stock car racing in 2011, Fittipaldi spent two seasons in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series before progressing to junior formulae in 2013. Fittipaldi won his first title at the 2014 Protyre Formula Renault Championship. He then won the 2015–16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, before winning the 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 with Charouz. He served as a test driver in Formula E for Jaguar from 2017 to 2019. A reserve driver for Haas since 2019, Fittipaldi made his Formula One debut at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, replacing an injured Romain Grosjean to become the fourth member of the Fittipaldi family to compete in Formula One, and finishing seventeenth. He made a further appearance in 2020 at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Following three seasons in sportscar racing—winning the LMP2 class at the 2023 6 Hours of Monza—Fittipaldi competed full-time in the IndyCar Series in 2024 with RLL.
Outside of open-wheel racing, Fittipaldi competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2019, the European Le Mans Series from 2021 to 2022, and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023. Fittipaldi has competed in the LMP2 class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship since 2023 for Rick Ware, Inter Europol, and Pratt Miller.
Fittipaldi da Cruz was born on 25 June 1996 in Miami, Florida, U.S. Fittipaldi is the grandson of two-time Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi and the older brother of racing driver Enzo.
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
Fittipaldi began his racing career in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, winning the track championship at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2011. In 2012, he won one race and finished fifth in the championship.
Fittipaldi moved to Europe to pursue a career in open-wheeled racing in 2013, making his debut in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship and Protyre Formula Renault Championship In 2014, he won the latter series, clinching the title with one race remaining. He won the 2015-16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship with four wins from fourteen races.
FIA Formula 3 European Championship
In 2015, Fittipaldi competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship for Fortec Motorsports. With a best result of sixth at two of the races at Algarve, Fittipaldi finished seventeenth in the championship standings with 32 points.
Fittipaldi continued racing for Fortec in 2016, this time driving in the Formula V8 3.5 Series alongside fellow rookie Louis Delétraz. However, he only scored one podium and ended up tenth in the standings, eight positions behind his teammate.
Nevertheless, Fittipaldi continued competing in the World Series, this time with Lotus. He won six races, dominating the championship, 44 points ahead of his closest rival Matevos Isaakyan.
In February 2018, Fittipaldi was named a part-time driver of the No. 19 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing in the IndyCar Series, replacing Zachary Claman DeMelo in six races that year. He made his debut at the Phoenix Grand Prix, where he was forced to retire after contact on lap forty. He achieved his first top-ten finish at Portland and finished 26th in the standings.
Fittipaldi returned to IndyCar in 2021 exclusively for oval races, splitting the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR car with Romain Grosjean, who planned to only enter road and street circuit rounds. Fittipaldi was the fastest rookie qualifier for the 2021 Indianapolis 500.
On 23 October 2023, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Fittipaldi would drive the No. 30 Honda for the 2024 IndyCar Series. At the opening round of the season, the 2024 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, he finished thirteenth, his best result of the season.
In October 2014, Fittipaldi was one of four drivers to be invited to test for the Ferrari Driver Academy. He first tested a Formula One car on 27 November 2018 during the post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit, driving for Haas.
Haas reserve driver (2019–present)
In November 2018, the Haas F1 Team confirmed Fittipaldi as its official 2019 test driver. Haas announced that he would test the car at the first pre-season test at Barcelona in February 2019. In April 2019, Fittipaldi took part in the 2019 Bahrain Young Driver Test, before then making an appearance at the mid-season test at Catalunya.
On 30 November 2020, it was announced that Fittipaldi would race for Haas in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, replacing the injured Romain Grosjean who was hospitalised after an accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix in which he suffered burns to his hands and ankles. This made him the first grandson of a Formula One driver to become a Formula One driver himself. Fittipaldi started his debut Grand Prix in last and finished the race seventeenth, the last of the remaining drivers. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner commented on Fittipaldi's debut "I think Pietro did a great job, considering he drove the car for the last time a year ago". Fittipaldi remarked that it is difficult for a driver to make it to Formula One, and he was glad to have finished his first race.