Fittipaldi on Mexico Practice Run: “My personal targets are to perform at my best”

Pietro Fittipaldi will participate in his first official FIA Formula 1 World Championship free practice session since the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when he takes to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Haas F1 Team on Friday.

The Brazilian raced twice for Haas in 2020 as a replacement for the injured Romain Grosjean, and although he has tested with the team since, he has not been on track on an official race weekend since his outings in the Sakhir and Abu Dhabi races.

This will change for Fittipaldi this weekend as he joins the fray on Friday in Mexico City, with the former World Series Formula V8 3.5 champion using up one of the two necessary young driver sessions for Haas in 2022.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Fittipaldi.  “It’s definitely different to run in testing to running during an official race weekend in practice and I want to do a great job for the team.

“It’s going to be the first time for me in a Formula 1 car in Mexico so that will be pretty exciting. I want to do a good run for the team, go through all the run plan and do a solid job.

“On Thursday we’ll go over the run plan and what the objectives are because it could be focusing on qualifying runs or high fuel running for the race, so we’ll see what the team priority is and I’ll look to do my best job on Friday.

“My personal targets are to perform at my best and make sure that I show the team again what I can do. Every time you get an opportunity in Formula 1, I always see it as a job interview, so every time you’ve got the chance to get behind the wheel, you’ve got to do your best.”

Fittipaldi hopes to put his previous experience of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to good use, the Brazilian having won twice from pole position during his Formula V8 3.5 Series winning season.

“The only time I’ve raced there was in 2017 in the World Series V8 3.5 Championship, and I have two pole positions and two wins, so I have a good record over there,” he added.  “I hope to stay successful after FP1 with Haas.

“I’m always ready – I’ve been doing sports car racing and endurance racing this year which is extremely physical and tasking mentally. I’ve had a good couple of races recently in sports cars and I come off a good rhythm, and I think that’s important.

“I train a lot throughout the whole year, especially with the neck which is the most important thing. FP1 in Mexico is only one hour long so it’s not too tasking so I have no doubt that I’ll be ready.”