Confirmed: Pietro Fittipaldi to replace Romain Grosjean for Abu Dhabi

Pietro Fittipaldi will replace injured Romain Grosjean for the final Formula 1 race of the 2020 season in Abu Dhabi. Fittipaldi, grandson of two-time F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, is set to make his Grand Prix debut in today's race in Bahrain. He will continue to substitute Grosjean next weekend in Abu Dhabi after the Haas driver suffered burns in his crash during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

On Sunday morning, Haas confirmed that Grosjean is to return home. The French-Swiss driver had a major crash on lap one of last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix. After his car split the barrier, Grosjean was forced to escape from a fireball.

Grosjean is well but has sustained serious burns to his hands. These burns mean that Grosjean is unable to compete in next weekend's race, which would have been his final F1 event.

“It is with great sadness that I will not be able to do my final race in Abu Dhabi and be with the team there. We’ve tried as much as we could with the doctor to recover and to repair my hand, but the risk of racing is too big for my recovery and my health," Grosjean said.

After signing with Haas for the 2021 season, Mich Schumacher reported that he is ready to race in Abu Dhabi should it be needed for the American team. Instead, Haas confirmed they will stick with Fittipaldi.

In his first Formula 1 weekend, Fittipaldi was due to start from the back of the grid as a result of penalties. He qualified in P20 anyhow but hasn't been far behind experienced teammate Kevin Magnussen all weekend.

Fittipaldi is the fourth member of the family to race in Formula 1.