Fittipaldi wants more races: 'Because as a driver you want to race more'

Pietro Fittipaldi is a busy man. Last weekend, the Brazilian drove the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this weekend he is already back in Montreal as Haas F1's reserve driver. Admittedly, he can be found at a track somewhere almost every week. In principle, Fittipaldi, the grandson of former world champion Emerson, will not be in action. Much to his own disappointment. But next month he may actually get behind the wheel of the Haas.

Haas announced on Thursday afternoon that Fittipaldi will take part in the Pirelli test next month. The Brazilian will be in action for one full day, with both Grand Prix drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg in the car on the other day. The tests will take place after the British Grand Prix, also at the Silverstone circuit.

'Calendar too limited'

Fittipaldi told GPblog recently that he remains hopeful of a permanent seat at Haas, but for now that does not seem to be in the cards. The Brazilian currently races in the American IMSA championship and its counterpart under the auspices of the FIA; the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The latter endurance championship involves only seven races per season. Next season it will be one more, eight in other words.

"There should be more WEC races. For me it's too small, the calendar," Fittipaldi told GPblog. "Why it's only seven, obviously, for costs and stuff. But ideally, because the endurance races are longer anyways, you cannot have as many races as IndyCar and F1 because of the mileage on the parts. You triple the mileage in one weekend. Sometimes even more. So I would say seven races for me is still too little. Especially if they're not 24 hours all the time. As a racing driver, ideally, like 12 race weekends. Maybe if you cannot get to 12, at least 10."

WEC at Silverstone?

Next question will be: Where should these races be held? "Maybe only Le Mans is 24 hours, but you add some other six-hour races. You can go to Silverstone. There are many tracks. Imola would be a nice track as well (WEC announced last weekend Imola will replace Monza next season). Yeah, you can go to Suzuka. There are still a lot of tracks that you would be able to do."

A number of drivers combine the WEC championship with a season in Formula E. "Yeah, because there's time to do it. But if WEC can finally get a car that has 12 race weekends, I think that would be ideal. Because as a driver you want to race more."