Bobby Rahal is delighted to sign Pietro Fittipaldi to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for 2024.
The team owner said he signed the Brazilian to “a multi-year deal and happy to do so.”
Fittipaldi is joining Christian Lundgaard at RLL for next season’s 17-round campaign.
Rahal said he’s been following Fittipaldi’s career for a lengthy amount of time and was impressed with his junior career.
“I think Pietro, first off, he’s had a very successful career in junior categories, multiple champion in junior categories. Did a few races here. Qualified 13th at Indy in think it was ’21, ’20 or ’21. Not bad, right? Had some decent runs in the few races he did do.
“I know people where he’s driven, their teams, they have nothing but great things to say about him. I’m confident that he can help take the team forward.
“I look at his background, World Series Renault. Very successful against guys like Alexander Rossi. A lot of respect for Alexander Rossi.
“I think the whole package really is what interested us to do this. Myself, Mike, David, Steve Eriksen. I think we looked at Pietro was being a guy that had the experience and knew what the expectation would be. Seemed to be the right choice in our mind, and I think it is the right choice.”
Fittipaldi was equally delighted to join the team and achieve his dream of racing in IndyCar full-time.
“Unbelievably excited. I’m very happy for this opportunity. For me INDYCAR is one of the most competitive and versatile series in the world, racing on street courses, road courses, ovals, which I love oval racing.
“For me, it’s always been a goal of mine, dream of mine, to be able to race in INDYCAR full-time. We know it’s a highly competitive series. There are a lot of drivers and limited rides available. Every year, it seems like the series gets more and more competitive. I’ve always had that goal.
“I was also racing the World Endurance Championship this year with Team JOTA. I knew Bobby for some years. I always kept in touch with Bobby.
“When the opportunity was there, we worked through it. To be able to race for him now and for this whole organisation is, yeah, an incredible opportunity.”
The Brazilian has enjoyed an impressive career, winning the World Series Formula V8 3.5 in 2017 before making his F1 debut with Haas in 2020.
The 27-year-old also has vast experience in endurance racing, including an appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2022 in the LMP2 class.
Fittiapaldi’s full-time IndyCar career on March 10th on the Streets of St. Petersburg and includes the 108th Running of the Indy 500 on May 26th.
