INDIANAPOLIS — Sometimes, God works in mysterious ways. That’s never more apparent than the path that has led Pietro Fittipaldi to being announced as the driver of the No. 30 Dallara-Hodna for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on Monday.

See, Fittipaldi initially made his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut here in 2018. It was a part-time role with the team for the season, but his program was curtailed midseason after breaking both legs in an accident in the World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in May of that year. 

That meant no Indy 500. Maybe even no more races for the remainder of the season.

That’s where his path changed directions but indirectly led to him being announced on Monday. Instead of rehabbing at home, he came to Indianapolis. Not just the city, but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Yes, that mecca.

They arranged to have a motorhome set up in the infield and Fittipaldi and his mom lived in it.

“Basically I had the accident and surgery on the same night in Belgium. We decided to fly to Indianapolis and use the medical facility here to do my rehab. So I lived two months inside the Speedway,” he told me on Monday afternoon.

“Dr. Trammell was supporting and supervising me throughout the whole process. My mom lived with me at the motorhome. The goal was to get back to racing as soon as possible.”

Which is why this plan of action has shaped his racing career after that point. The surgeon then told him it would take a year to get back inside of a race car. He felt like that was far too long. He had a contract in INDYCAR to oblige to and he wanted desperately to get back to show everyone what he could do.

“The surgeon told me it would take me a year to get back because I had metal in my legs and stuff,” he said. “I was like, Listen, I have a contract with INDYCAR, there’s five races to go, and I need to get back.

“I came here, Dr. Trammell supported me. Two and a half months after my accident I got back racing in INDYCAR. I probably was not ready, in thinking about it now, I should have waited longer. Dr. Trammell built me this carbon fiber brace. I couldn’t hit the brake properly, a lot of pain, taking painkillers and stuff.

“We finished 10th (was actually 11th) in Gateway and 9th in Portland. I was braking at 70% of my capacity and stuff.”

By doing so, Haas F1 noticed. Fittipaldi had 2 goals and they were to race full-time in INDYCAR or F1. He now had a path open up to do either.

“At the end that also got me the opportunity to do the test for Haas at the end of 2018,” he said.

In 2018 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Fittipaldi was signed as Haas F1 Team’s official 2019 reserve and test driver. He capped his year with a Formula 1 debut steering the team’s VF-18 at the post-season Pirelli tire test.

2019 saw Fittipaldi combine a season competing for Audi Sport Team WRT and Team Rosberg in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), with testing and development duties behind the wheel of the Haas VF-19 – testing in Spain, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, as well as extensive simulator development throughout the season. Continuing in 2020 as reserve and test driver, Fittipaldi subsequently made his debut in F1 with two grand prix starts for the Haas F1 Team standing in for the injured Romain Grosjean at the Sakhir Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.

In 2021 and 2022, he continued as the Haas F1 Team reserve and test driver and took part in F1 free practice sessions as part of mandated “rookie” sessions and carried out pre and post-season test duties for the team. Also in 2021, he competed in the European Le Mans Series with Team InterEuropol, securing the team’s best finish in their history with second place at Spa-Francorchamps and their best qualifying position of third in Monza. On top of that, he made his return to INDYCAR to run all ovals with Coyne while Romain Grosjean ran on road/street courses. That ended early though as Grosjean elected to run ovals later in the season. The 2021 Indianapolis 500 was his last race in an INDYCAR at that point.

While simultaneously continuing as Haas F1 Team’s reserve and test driver in 2023, he competed in the World Endurance Championship with Team JOTA. A season highlight was a victory in the Six Hours of Monza World Endurance Championship race in the LMP2 class.

In saying that, he never took his eye off INDYCAR. With RLL’s third car struggling and then having an opening for 2024, a path to comeback was on the table. He had wanted to come back since 2021 and Rahal was impressed with what he saw out of Fittipaldi at Indy in 2021 as well as what he’s been doing around the world in other cars too.

“I think Pietro, first off, he’s had a very successful career in junior categories, multiple champion in junior categories,” Rahal said of his new driver. “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.

“Obviously getting hurt in the Prototype car at Spa set him back. But I think the thing that most impressed me about Pietro was his work ethic and his focus. There’s no question this is where he wants to be. I’m excited about that.

“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.

“For me, as Pietro said, we’ve stayed in touch for a number of years. As I said earlier, always was impressed by the job he did under very limited circumstances.

“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.”

Now here we are. The same guy that lived inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway rehabbing in 2018 will be back in 2024 as a full-time driver in his own seat with a new career path that Rahal said is a multi-year agreement.

“Yeah, now to be back here and have the opportunity to race full-time, as you know it’s something I’ve been working and waiting for a long time. You can imagine how excited and motivated I am,” Fittipaldi told me.

Which is why this thing has come full circle. When he first showed up in 2018, he was only 21. Now, he’s 27. When he was 21, he did race overseas some but his background also was in ovals which was why he was considered an oval specialist.

He began his racing career in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series winning the track championship at Hickory in 2011.

Between that 2018 injury and coming back now for 2024, he went on a more European path that involved F1. That’s made him a much more complete all-around driver in all disciplines which could in turn, make him a better contender with this opportunity than it would have been five years ago.

“I think I was always ready to make the switch full-time to INDYCAR. It was just a matter of having the right opportunity,” he told me.

“Obviously now with the years and the experience I’ve built in Formula 1, in endurance racing, DTM, Formula E, SUPER FORMULA, all these categories, for sure you arrive much more prepared and experienced, I think weathered, to be able to under pressure deliver what the team is expecting from you.

“I would say in that part, in terms of experience, yeah, for sure I’m more prepared. In terms of speed and stuff, I remember back in 2018 we were extremely competitive in the road courses and testing, then obviously I had that accident which kind of derailed stuff. Now I’m ready and focused for 2024.”