Haas "showed what we could do" - Pietro Fiitipaldi

Haas

Haas "showed what we could do" - Fiitipaldi

Fittipaldi impressed in what was likely his final F1 start in Abu Dhabi

Ewan Gale

Tuesday 15 December 2020 13:35

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Haas stand-in driver Pietro Fittipaldi believes his pace in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before a mechanical problem struck "showed what we could do" as his Formula 1 cameo came to an end.

Fittipaldi, who raced in the Sakhir GP and at the Yas Marina Circuit in place of the recovering Romain Grosjean, showed himself in good light as he fought amongst the backmarkers along with team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

The American-Brazilian praised the team for integrating him into the fold in an efficient manner to give him the platform to express his talent.

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"The team did such a great job in such a short time to get me ready," he said. "We showed what we could do.

"That's what happens when preparation meets good opportunity, good things happen. I am really happy with this opportunity and I am very grateful."

Fittipaldi ran ahead of Magnussen at one point in the race but was forced to make a second stop in order to deal with a suspected engine issue which left him taking the chequered flag in 19th and last.

The 24-year-old, however, was content with the step he had made during his second weekend in order to battle with his team-mate and Williams.

"[I was] a lot more confident coming into it from qualifying, we were very competitive in qualifying," explained Fittipaldi.

"Then in the race, the start was a bit crazy but we raced a lot better. We saved the tyres a bit in the beginning but we started picking up pace. I was able to overtake Kevin [Magnussen].

"I started catching [Nicholas] Latifi in the first half of the race. Unfortunately, we had some overheating thing with the engine so we had to do a pit-stop to fix that.

"It ruined our race but I was really happy with how we progressed. We were able to fight with Kevin and do some overtaking, do some fighting with the Williams. I was really happy about that."

Fittipaldi's future, however, remains unresolved. It is unclear he will continue in his capacity as test and reserve driver after Haas opted for Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin to replace Grosjean and Magnussen for 2021.