It’ll be another weekend to remember for the famous Fittipaldi surname as Pietro, grandson of two-time Formula 1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, makes his debut under the lights in Sakhir. 

Romain Grosjean’s terrible accident last weekend has given the Brazilian this chance. While the Frenchman is thankfully set to make a full recovery, this race has come too soon for him. 

24-year-old Fittipaldi has previously raced in the likes of IndyCar and DTM, with his last competitive action coming in the F3 Asian Championship back in February. 

The Brazilian is extremely thankful for the help he’s received from Magnussen, Grosjean and the whole Haas team ahead of his debut; Fittipaldi expects it to be difficult physically. 

“I’m not driving for the best team but for me it’s an amazing group of people,” Fittipaldi said. “I think the group of people we have at Haas, they’ve been helping me a lot, the engineers, mechanics, I’ve known them for two years. 

“Kevin as well, Romain, they’ve been very supportive and open with me because they know it’s my first race, it’s going to be difficult with all the procedural stuff in F1. But the team has been amazing, that’s a huge plus for me, that helps out a lot. 

“The most difficult thing at first I think is maybe physically. I don’t know how this track will be physically, it’s a shorter track, longer straights, fewer corners but heavy braking zones. But the team has been doing a great job in helping me as well as Kevin, it’s been great to have his as my teammate. Romain as well, I’ve been speaking to him, he’s been very supportive.” 

Team boss Guenther Steiner told the Brazilian he would be getting his chance on Monday after it was clear that Grosjean would be unavailable.  

“It wasn’t always for sure but I’m one of the reserve drivers for the team. I wasn’t really asking Guenther, after Romain’s accident, the team was focused on Romain, I was as well, on his health. 

“On Monday Guenther called me over to the track and told me I had the drive. Guenther has always been a man of his word, he’s always been very straightforward with me, that’s why I love working with him and why I consider him a great team boss. I appreciate that from him, when the opportunity came, now I was just like ‘Focus, get ready to drive on Friday’. 

Fittipaldi admits it’s a ''great feeling'' to get this chance, whilst acknowledging it won’t be under the greatest circumstances.  

“It’s a great feeling for sure, I’ve been dreaming of racing in Formula 1 since I started racing. I was four years old when I started karting, so it’s surreal. Obviously it’s not under the best circumstances, my debut, with Romain having his crash, but he’s very lucky coming out with… obviously he burned his hands and hurt his foot but very lucky to come out of that the way he did, it’s really a miracle. 

“I got my debut that way, it’s difficult but obviously I’m happy with the opportunity. I’m grateful to the team for the trust they have in me. I’m looking forward to going out already tomorrow.’’ 

🇧🇷 @PiFitti photoshoot 📸#HaasF1 #SakhirGP pic.twitter.com/rHZsCGfCKm

— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) December 3, 2020

George Russell’s call-up to Mercedes to replace Lewis Hamilton for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix has given Jack Aitken an opportunity to make his Formula 1 debut, too. 

The 25-year-old finished runner-up in the GP3 Championship back in 2017 and has scored four wins in his three seasons in Formula 2.  

After leaving the Renault Academy at the start of this year, his decision has been vindicated with Williams giving him his chance to race in Formula 1.  

“Yeah, I think it’s a huge opportunity,” he replied, “but it’s equally one that I’ve been waiting for, for quite a long time, and one I feel quite ready for. 

“I’m just going to approach the weekend as I always do, I’m not really thinking too far in the future at this stage, just tackling what’s ahead of us this weekend. I think I’ve got everything that I need to do a really good job and I’m just going to focus on that now.” 

Aitken admitted he eagerly contacted Williams to see what was going to happen as Mercedes looked to take George Russell for the Sakhir Grand Prix following Hamilton’s positive result for COVID-19. 

“Such was my impatience that I actually contacted the team and said: ‘What’s going on?’ And that was on… Tuesday afternoon. 

“They said: ‘Look we’re assessing the situation, we’ll get back to you, just sit tight.’ 

“So I sat tight for several hours and eventually stretched out overnight, and in the morning, once the confirmation came through, it was announced half an hour later or something, so it all happened quite quickly,” he said. 

The British-Korean driver has already experienced the FW43 at a Grand Prix event this year. He took part in FP1 at the Styrian Grand Prix and finished 17th, a very creditable 1.9s off the fastest time in the session.  

“It’s pretty invaluable. It’s the only opportunity I’ve had so far to sample the FW43 and any experience that I can call upon coming into this weekend is really helpful,” said Aitken. 

“We had a good run there in Austria; we had very limited time to work with, but this weekend should be more relaxed and I think it’s going to help make that first few steps.” 

Seat checks complete ✅

Ready to take to the track tomorrow 👊#SakhirGP 🇧🇭 | #WeAreWilliams 💙 pic.twitter.com/CVlbxWnRS5

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) December 3, 2020