Fittipaldi to drive new Haas in pre-season test

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Pietro Fittipaldi to drive new Haas in pre-season test

Pietro Fittipaldi to drive new Haas in pre-season test

Haas test driver Pietro Fittipaldi will drive the new VF-19 during the first week of pre-season testing, spending two half days behind the wheel.

Fittipaldi, the grandson of double World Champion Emerson, has been signed as the American team’s test and reserve driver for this year’s championship.

As part of his role, the 22-year-old will spend time in the VF-19 during next week’s Barcelona test.

“To have Pietro in the car is a big element for our simulator work,” said Haas team boss Gunther Steiner.

“We’re always trying to improve that.

“We need to have him in the car to validate if the simulator programme is going well or not.

“This is vital to our programme going forward.”

Fittipaldi has already had a taste of Formula 1 as he took part in last year’s post-season Abu Dhabi test with Haas.

This time around he’ll be in the car for two half days with regular drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen splitting the rest of the time.

“I’m really look forward to the test,” said Fittipaldi.

“I got to test the 2018 car at the end of last year and now I get to try the ’19 car in pre-season testing.

“The main focus on the test will be to assist the team to develop the car as much as possible before the first race of the season.

“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of test items the team will want to go through.

“We’ll want to see how reliable the new car is, I’m sure we’ll be aiming for a lot of miles.

“The goal at the end of the day, as a driver, is to go as fast as possible, to drive the car as fast as you can, but it’s also to give the team really good feedback.

“That’s crucial to the development of the car before the first race.”