For first time since 1970, Brazilian GP will have no homegrown drivers - MotorSportsTalk

SAO PAULO (AP) — For the first time since 1970, there will be no Brazilian driver in a Formula One race in Brazil.

So fans in the racing-crazy South American nation, home to eight F1 titles by three champions, are putting all their hopes on two young test drivers who will have a bigger role in the series next year.

Pietro Fittipaldi, the 22-year-old grandson of former F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi, was announced Friday as test driver for Haas starting after the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP.

Sergio Sette Camara, the 20-year-old who is the only Latin American driver in Formula 2, will be McLaren’s test driver next year.

Sette Camara is sixth in the F2 standings with one race to go this season, while Pietro Fittipaldi drove as a part-time driver in the IndyCar Series. Both had their seasons marred by crashes that forced them to miss races.

Despite not having the same impressive results as some of the former Brazilian drivers before they reached F1, Sette Camara and Pietro Fittipaldi are the closest the country has to F1 since Felipe Massa retired last season after a successful career in the series.

The standards are high for Brazilian fans who were used to cheering for racing greats such as Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, and more recently for less legendary names such as Massa and Rubens Barrichello.

“I hope these test drivers are better than fans expect. What are their names again?” said 45-year-old engineer Augusto Daniel, wearing a Mercedes cap. “I love racing regardless of seeing any Brazilian on the grid, but it is obviously disappointing not to be able to wave our flag for a local driver. It will be a strange experience this time, it will be a bit less emotional too.”

Senna was the last Brazilian to win the F1 title, in 1991. Pique won his three world titles in the 1980s, and Fittipaldi won two in the early 1970s.

Massa came close with Ferrari in 2008, losing the title by one point to Lewis Hamilton in the last lap of the season-ending race at Interlagos.

“There are just too many reasons as to why we have no Brazilian drivers on the grid,” McLaren’s sporting director Gil de Ferran said. “There is the lack of sponsorship deals for younger drivers, there needs to be a better organization of the local racing calendar, professionals need better pay. Also, the country is in a long economy crisis. It is just too many factors. We have to root for our test drivers to succeed for now.”

Earlier in the week, five-time world champion Hamilton said he doesn’t know what Brazil is doing to put drivers into F1, but he can see what other nations are doing well.

“Mexico is putting a lot of money to put their drivers in F1, Russia too,” the British driver said.

Hamilton said he did not know much about Sette Camara, who had just been announced as McLaren’s test driver.

“But there’s definitely space for Brazil, this is a country of hardcore racing fans,” the Mercedes driver said.

Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India is the only Latin American driver on the F1 grid this year.

Sette Camara trusts Brazil’s traditions in F1 to end the short drought of local drivers in the series.

“This moment will pass because we had those mavericks opening the way, we are acknowledged as a country where talent flourishes, even if our economy is not as strong as Europe’s,” he said.

Pietro Fittipaldi said Brazil’s return to F1 could have happened earlier, as he was supposed to test for Haas before the Hungarian Grand Prix this year. He couldn’t because he broke both legs in a serious accident while driving in the World Endurance Championship.

He also believes the shortage of samba on the grid will be gone soon.

“There are several young pilots, including me, Sergio. I am 100 percent sure there will be another Brazilian driver in F1 pretty soon,” the young Fittipaldi said. “And there is also my brother, Enzo…”

Racing specialists see 17-year-old Enzo Fittipaldi as the biggest upcoming Brazilian talent. This year he had the best performance among all Ferrari academy drivers and ended with a Formula 4 title in Italy. He and Pietro will live together in Maranello, where the youngest will be able to learn from F1 much before he ever has a chance to fight for a cockpit.

INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou had not turned a wheel wrong the entire Month of May at the Indy 500 until Rinus VeeKay turned a wheel into the Chip Ganassi Racing pole-sitter leaving pit road on Lap 94.

“There is nothing I could have done there,” Palou told NBC Sports. “It’s OK, when it is my fault or the team’s fault because everybody makes mistakes. But when there is nothing, you could have done differently there, it feels bad and feels bad for the team.”

Marcus Ericsson was a master at utilizing the “Tail of the Dragon” move that breaks the draft of the car behind him in the closing laps to win last year’s Indianapolis 500. On Sunday, however, the last of three red flags in the final 16 laps of the race had the popular driver from Sweden breathing fire after Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden beat him at his own game on the final lap to win the Indianapolis 500.

Despite the two disappointments, team owner Chip Ganassi was seen on pit road fist-bumping a member on his four-car team in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after his drivers finished second, fourth, sixth and seventh in the tightly contested race.

Those are pretty good results, but at the Indianapolis 500, there is just one winner and 32 losers.

“There is only one winner, but it was a hell of a show,” three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Chip Ganassi Racing consultant Dario Franchitti told NBC Sports. “Alex was very fast, and he got absolutely caught out in somebody else’s wreck. There was nothing he could have done, but he and the 10 car, great recovery.

“Great recovery by all four cars because at half distance, we were not looking very good.”

After 92 laps, the first caution flew for Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing hitting the Turn 1 wall.

During pit stops on Lap 94, Palou had left his stall when the second-place car driven by VeeKay ran into him, putting Palou’s Honda into the wall. The car sustained a damaged front wing, but the Chip Ganassi crew was able to get him back in the race on the lead lap but in 28^th position.

Palou ultimately would fight his way to a fourth-place finish in a race the popular Spaniard could have won. His displeasure with VeeKay, whom he sarcastically called “a legend” on his team radio after the incident, was evident.

“The benefit of being on pole is you can drive straight and avoid crashes, and he was able to crash us on the side on pit lane, which is pretty tough to do, but he managed it,” Palou told NBC Sports. “Hopefully next year we are not beside him. Hopefully, next year we have a little better luck.”

Palou started on the pole and led 36 laps, just three fewer than race leader Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing.

“We started really well, was managing the fuel as we wanted, our car was pretty good,” Palou said. “Our car wasn’t great, we dropped to P4 or P5, but we still had some good stuff.

“On the pit stop, the 21 (VeeKay) managed to clip us. Nothing we could have done there. It was not my team’s fault or my fault.

“We had to drop to the end. I’m happy we made it back to P4. We needed 50 more laps to make it happen, but it could have been a lot worse after that contact.

“I learned a lot, running up front at the beginning and in mid-pack and then the back. I learned a lot.

“It feels amazing when you win it and not so good when things go wrong. We were a bit lucky with so many restarts at the end to make it back to P4 so I’m happy with that.”

Palou said the front wing had to be changed and the toe-in was a bit off, but he still had a fast car.

In fact, his Honda was the best car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all month. His pole-winning four lap average speed of 234.217 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a record for this fabled race.

Palou looked good throughout the race, before he had to scratch and claw and race his way back to the top-five after he restarted 28^th.

In the Indianapolis 500, however, the best car doesn’t always win.

“It’s two years in a row that we were leading the race at the beginning and had to drop to last,” Palou said. “Maybe next year, we will start in the middle of the field and go on to win the race.

“I know he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s better to let that pass someday.”

Palou said the wild racing at the end was because the downforce package used in Sunday’s race means the drivers have to be aggressive. The front two cars can battle for the victory, but cars back in fourth or fifth place can’t help determine the outcome of the race.

That is when the “Tail of the Dragon” comes into the play.

Franchitti helped celebrate Ericsson’s win in 2022 with his “Tail of the Dragon” zigzag move – something he never had to do in any of his three Indianapolis 500 victories because they all finished under caution.

In 2023, however, IndyCar Race Control wants to make every attempt to finish the race under green, without going past the scheduled distance like NASCAR’s overtime rule.

Instead of extra laps, they stop the race with a red flag, to create a potential green-flag finish condition.

“You do what you have to do to win within the rules, and it’s within the rules, so you do it,” Franchitti said. “The race is 200 laps and there is a balance.

“Marcus did a great job on that restart and so did Josef. It was just the timing of who was where and that was it.

“If you knew it was going to go red, you would have hung back on the lap before.

“Brilliant job by the whole Ganassi organization because it wasn’t looking very good at half-distance.

“Full marks to Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.”

Franchitti is highly impressed by how well Ericsson works with CGR engineer Brad Goldberg and how close this combination came to winning the Indianapolis 500 two-years-in-a-row.

It would have been the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.

“Oh, he’s a badass,” Franchitti said Ericsson. “He proved it last year. He is so calm all day. What more do you need? As a driver, he’s fast and so calm.”

Ericsson is typically in good spirits and jovial.

He was stern and direct on pit road after the race.

“I did everything right, I did an awesome restart, caught Josef off-guard and pulled away,” Ericsson said on pit lane. “It’s hard to pull away a full lap and he got me back.

“I’m mostly disappointed with the way he ended. I don’t think it was fair and safe to do that restart straight out of the pits on cold tires for everyone.

“To me, it was not a good way to end that race.

“Congrats to Josef. He didn’t do anything wrong. He is a worthy champion, but it shouldn’t have ended like that.”

Palou also didn’t understand the last restart, which was a one-start showdown.

“I know that we want to finish under green,” Palou said. “Maybe the last restart I did, I didn’t understand. It didn’t benefit the CGR team.

“I’m not very supportive of the last one, but anyway.”

Dixon called the red flags “a bit sketchy.”

“The Red Flags have become a theme to the end of the race, but sometimes they can catch you out,” Dixon said. “I know Marcus is frustrated with it.

“All we ask for is consistency. I think they will do better next time.

“It’s a tough race. People will do anything they can to win it and with how these reds fall, you have to be in the right place at the right time. The problem is when they throw a Red or don’t throw a Red dictates how the race will end.

“It’s a bloody hard race to win. Congrats to Josef Newgarden and to Team Penske.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500