Pietro Fittipaldi isn’t sure if he’ll be back for another year of NTT IndyCar Series competition with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, but that hasn’t stopped him from searching for other opportunities in the IndyCar paddock to continue his career. And the 28-year-old isn’t the only Fittipaldi with IndyCar ambitions.
Younger brother Enzo, a three-year veteran of the FIA Formula 2 development series, is also hoping to find a home in IndyCar and continue the bloodline that started back in 1984 with their grandfather Emerson Fittipaldi.
With 23-year-old Enzo’s upcoming test with Arrow McLaren, albeit with a team where no vacancies exist, efforts are afoot to gain more IndyCar mileage and hunt for a new home that, in a perfect world, would include Pietro under the same tent.
“I’ve definitely been working on it with Rahal, which have their situation with (losing primary sponsor) Hy-Vee and then as well (trying to hold onto) 5 Hour Energy, which they’re still working on, means we’re waiting on that to see what’s going to happen for next year,” Fittipaldi told RACER.
“But my goal, for sure, is to continue in IndyCar. My brother’s goal, as well, is to race in IndyCar next year. So through (Arrow McLaren’s) Tony Kanaan and Zak Brown, they gave a great opportunity for my brother to do the test at Thermal in two weeks, which is very exciting for Enzo. And the goal is to have both me and him racing in IndyCar together. That would be the ultimate dream.”
The elder Fittipaldi brother made his IndyCar debut in 2018 with a six-race program with Dale Coyne Racing, returned to Coyne in 2021 for three more races, and got his first full-time shot in 2024 with RLL, where he placed 19th in the championship, one position behind team veteran Graham Rahal.
With RLL’s need to bolster its budget through sponsors or well-funded drivers, the No. 30 Honda that Fittipaldi drove last season has been the subject of great interest by others as it serves as one of the few seats left that can be acquired at the right price – only five of the 27 full-time entries for 2025 are potentially up for grabs. Former Andretti Global driver Devlin DeFrancesco is tipped to step into RLL’s third and final seat — the one occupied by Pietro last season — which has led to Fittipaldi opening talks with other teams.