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Red Bull

Red Bull junior star reveals Marko congratulations with Perez seat uncertain

Enzo Fittipaldi's performances this season are certainly catching the eye of the team

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 17 August 2023 15:57

Enzo Fittipladi has said that he 'hopes opportunities will show' in Formula 1 if his form in F2 continues this season.

The 22-year-old has impressed this season in the secondary competition driving for Red Bull's junior team, and he won the sprint race and finished third in the feature race at the most recent Belgian Grand Prix.

He has heritage too, being the grandson of two-time F1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, and the younger brother of Haas reserve driver Pietro.

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"When you are in F2, performing is the first step," he told Sky Sports. "So as long as I continue with this momentum into the next few race weekends, who knows what could happen.

"If you perform and you do very well - in the championship especially - opportunities will show up.

"So, right now what I'm focused on is continuing to do well, continuing to improve as a driver every time I go out on track, and hopefully, opportunities will show."

Natural replacement for Sergio Perez?

Red Bull have dominated the first half of the 2023 season, winning every single race. However, there are still question marks over their second driver, with Sergio Perez's performances falling way below Max Verstappen's supreme drives.

Red Bull's young driver programme is well known for producing some excellent talent, including four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and, of course, Verstappen.

Dr Helmut Marko heads up Red Bull's young driver programme, and is a difficult man to impress

However, there has been disappointment over the last few drivers they have produced, with Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly being dropped from the top seat, Nyck de Vries being dropped from sister team AlphaTauri, and Yuki Tsunoda providing some relatively inconsistent performances so far in the same car.

In 2021, Red Bull decided upon the external hire of Sergio Perez, who was out of contract at Racing Point. Overall, Perez has done ok, but his struggling performances in this year's dominant car means that three out the four Red Bull seats are up for contention in the next couple of years (presuming Daniel Ricciardo is just a short-term replacement at AlphaTauri).

That could provide an opportunity for young, exciting drivers like Fittipaldi, who has been in constant contact with Dr Helmut Marko, the man that heads up Red Bull's young driver programme.

"Dr Marko at the race weekend congratulated me for the race victory.

"Max is winning every single race - he's just so fast, and for young drivers coming up the ladders - personally, I look up to Max - he's one of the best, if not the best of all time.

"They're just dominating right now, and being part of the Red Bull family and a driver in the Red Bull junior team - it's super amazing to be a part of the greatest Formula 1 team of all time."