Pietro Fittipaldi returns to IndyCar as full-time driver in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing No. 30

Current Haas F1 reserve driver and former IndyCar part-timer Pietro Fittipaldi will take over Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's No. 30 Honda entry full-time in 2024, the team announced Monday.

Fittipaldi, the 27-year-old grandson of 1989 IndyCar champion and two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, has made nine major American open-wheel starts in his brief IndyCar career -- both with Dale Coyne Racing -- in 2018 and 2021. In his most recent start, the 2021 Indy 500, he finished 25th after starting 13th. The lone top-10 of his career came as a rookie in 2018 in Portland.

"I am extremely proud and honored to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. With the experience I've gained over the last few years in F1 and other racing series, I am looking forward to the challenge of racing in IndyCar, one of the most competitive and versatile racing series in the world," the Brazilian-American said in a release.

Said team co-owner Bobby Rahal: "I got to meet Pietro (during the leadup to the 2021 Indy 500), and since that time, he has worked hard to become the reserve driver for Haas's F1 team. And from our discussions, I have been impressed with the maturity and experience that he will now bring to our program. I look forward to seeing what he can do over a full-season of IndyCar competition in 2024."

Fittipaldi joined the Haas F1 program in 2019 as the team's test driver, and in 2020 he made his lone starts in the pinnacle of open-wheel racing, filling in for a hospitalized Romain Grosjean after the Swiss-born Frenchman suffered his fiery crash in Bahrain. Fittipaldi recorded finishes of 17th and 19th in those starts.

In 2021, he returned to his test and reserve driver role with Haas in F1, while also splitting Coyne's No. 51 Honda with Grosjean in IndyCar, running the first three ovals of the year. Haas's test and reserve driver has continued on in that role since, while also running in the European Le Mans series in 2022, as well as the World Endurance Championship and IMSA in 2023.

What's next for RLL to complete 2024 driver lineup

Fittipaldi's hiring as a full-time driver in 2024 leaves RLL still to formally confirm a likely extension for Graham Rahal, who told reporters at the season-finale in Laguna Seca that he and team co-owner Mike Lanigan would "figure it out.” He informally began negotiations through the media in May by noting he was entertaining not returning to his family's team in 2024.

"Everyone jokes, but the reality is I'm still not signed. I'm going to be, but I'm not. Next week, we'll figure it out. My goal was July, but here I am," the younger Rahal told reporters of his RLL negotiations with Lanigan on Sept. 8. "It's not been easy, and it's definitely been a proper negotiation. They're both business men, as am I, and you have to know your worth and try to make it work."

Rahal also hinted then that, while praising his team's stand-in driver in the No. 30 Honda at the end of the year, Juri Vips, wasn't exactly a slam dunk hire, despite the speed the ex Red Bull Junior driver had shown in testing that was near the top of the charts that week. Just over a year prior, Vips had been dropped from Red Bull's program after uttering a racial slur during an online gaming stream. Since then, he'd gone through extensive sensitivity training to help better understand his mistake and learn from it, leaving RLL feeling comfortable for him to serve in a test and reserve role that ultimately led to a two-race tryout after Jack Harvey was sacked midseason.

"I think (Juri) would be a great fit, but at the end of the day, the No. 30 car has a bit of a hill to climb first before anything can be settled there," Rahal said of the No. 30 Honda's future back in September. "I think there's a bit of a mountain to get over before they get that settled.

"I've been impressed with (Juri's) approach. He's pretty modest, which is rare for guys coming out of Europe. Very down to Earth. He's had his struggles, but I think he took a very good approach to how he went about this. He's a good kid, and he's obviously fast. You don't get to be Red Bull's No. 1 junior on luck. He was 'the guy.'"

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar Silly Season: RLL signs Pietro Fittipaldi to drive No. 30 in 2024