AIX Racing’s Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. converted his front-row start into a maiden F2 podium, with the 19 year-old crossing the line in second in the first-ever Sprint Race in Madrid.
Having achieved a season-best Qualifying result yesterday with P10, the Brazilian headed into today’s race encouraged by the progress he and the team had made. Although he could not convert his reverse-grid pole into victory, the rookie walked away pleased after securing his maiden podium in the championship.
Speaking in the post-Sprint press conference, where Pit Debrief was in attendance, Fittipaldi Jr. reflected on his maiden podium, saying: “I mean, it feels great, you know, to be on a podium in Formula 2 in my rookie season. And doing it with AIX is incredible.”
“You know, the help they’ve given me this season and all the development we’ve been going through together to get to this podium was a lot of hard work. You know, a lot of defeats and a lot of troubles.”
“But that’s what part of the sport. And it’s always, you know, very good to step on a podium after all this hard work you put in.”
“A great race” ahead on Sunday
With a charging Laurens van Hoepen chasing him down for much of the race, Fittipaldi Jr. reflected on the pressure.
“Well, I mean, it was quite tough.”, he said. “You know, my car was not the easiest one to drive, so I was struggling a lot. But I tried to keep it on track and managed to finish P2.”
Having opted for a set of hard tyres for the Sprint Race, the AIX driver admitted that the Madring places significant demand on tyres. Nonetheless, with its varied mix of corners, he anticipates an exciting Feature Race tomorrow.
“I mean, I think this race, you know, this track is very intense on the tyres, for sure. There’s all these types of variations of corners, high speed, medium speed and low speed. So it’s a tough track. And tomorrow will be, I imagine it will be a great race tomorrow.”
A proud father watches on
As the son of two-time F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, the 19 year-old shared the special moment with his proud father, who watched on from below the podium. Fittipaldi Jr. reflected on what it meant to celebrate the milestone with him, saying: “I mean, of course he’s proud after a result like this.”
“I think that I saw him under the podium and he was celebrating and he’s of course happy. It’s a podium, it’s a good achievement for me in my rookie season and for the team. It’s always amazing.”
Starting the Feature Race further down the grid, the Brazilian knows he faces a tough challenge, particularly around a circuit that has so far offered limited overtaking opportunities. However, with mistakes likely to play a role over the longer race distance, Fittipaldi Jr. remains open-minded about how the Feature Race could unfold.
“I think it’s going to be a tough one tomorrow for sure, as you can see. But you know, this is a track where a lot of people can make a lot of mistakes.”
“And I think opportunities can come for sure with the pit stop like, you know, tomorrow’s a Feature Race, you know, it’s a long one and we’ll see what happens.”
