Christian Fittipaldi (born 18 January 1971) is a Brazilian former racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car, and NASCAR. He was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and participated in 43 Formula One Grands Prix for Minardi and Footwork between and .
Fittipaldi was fifth in the CART series in both 1996 and 2002, earning two wins and a second place in the 1995 Indianapolis 500. He has also had success racing sports prototypes, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona of 2004, 2014 and 2018, the 12 Hours of Sebring of 2015, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen of 2013, 2016 and 2017, and has captured two IMSA SportsCar Championships with Action Express Racing during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
A member of the Fittipaldi racing family, he is the son of former Formula One driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi, the nephew of two-time Formula One World Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, and the cousin of racing driver Emerson Fittipaldi Jr.. He is also the first cousin once-removed of Pietro and Enzo Fittipaldi, who are the grandsons of Emerson Fittipaldi.
Early years Fittipaldi was born in São Paulo. He is named after Christian Heins, a Brazilian racing driver who was killed in a wreck during the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans. Fittipaldi was second in the Brazilian Formula Ford in 1988. After finishing third in the South American Formula 3 in 1989, in 1990, he won the title in the Formula 3 Sudamericana and the fourth place in the British Formula 3.
In 1991, Fittipaldi was installed in Europe to compete in the Formula 3000, where he captured two wins and seven podiums in ten races to obtain the championship against Alessandro Zanardi. Later, he was third in the Macau Grand Prix of Formula 3.
Formula One
Fittipaldi's jump into Formula 1 happened in 1992 with Minardi, one of the smallest teams of the grid at the time; he scored a single point in 1992. Fittipaldi is the first Formula One driver to be born in the 1970s. Next year, he managed to score a total of five points in the Drivers' Championship, but the team decided to do away with him with two races to go in the season. The following season, he competed in the Footwork team and earned two fourth places, adding to a total of six points in the championship (as those finishes were his only points-paying results that year). At the end of the 1994 season, Fittipaldi decided to try his luck in the racing competitions in the United States.
In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Fittipaldi was ranked the 11th best Formula One driver of all time.
CART Competing mainly in CART, Fittipaldi was a slow starter, noted for his consistency rather than his outright pace, although by the time he won his first CART event at Road America in 1999, he was a championship contender due to his consistent finishing, among which was a second place in the 1995 Indianapolis 500, which earned him Rookie of the Year honors in the race. However, just as Fittipaldi's American career looked to be taking off, he broke his leg for the first time (out of the two total he suffered while racing in CART) at the Surfer's Paradise race in 1997. Although he was able to return both times and win two races, he never won a CART championship. He made a cameo appearance in Driven, which utilizes CART.
NASCAR With his Champ Car career on hold, Fittipaldi shifted his focus to NASCAR. He made three appearances in the Busch Series during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Although he was not impressive in those races, he was signed to Petty Enterprises near late-2002 and made his Winston Cup debut at Phoenix after he caught the eye of Richard Petty. In 2003, he made his first (and only) Daytona 500 start in a one-race deal with Andy Petree and then made a handful of appearances for Petty in ARCA. In the summer of that year, Fittipaldi became the driver of the illustrious No. 43 car after John Andretti (cousin of Fittipaldi's former CART teammate Michael Andretti) was let go. He struggled and was reassigned shortly after the start of autumn, but remained with the team, driving the No. 44 car.
Sports cars racing In parallel to his activity in Formula 1, Fittipaldi was the winner of the 1993 24 Hours of Spa and 1994 Brazilian 1000 Miles.
Fittipaldi debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2003 with the Bell team, resulting sixth with a Doran-Chevrolet of the class Daytona Prototype. It was one of the pilots that won the 2004 24 Hours of Daytona, in this case with a Doran-Pontiac. Then participated in four other rounds from the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series with Bell, earning seventh in Virginia.
Fittipaldi contested the first two races of the 2006 Grand-Am series with Bell, earning a sixth place at Homestead. Then ran six rounds with Riley-Pontiac of The Racer's Group, earning a victory in Phoenix, a second place in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and third in the 200 Miles at Watkins Glen.
In 2006, Fittipaldi disputed fully the Grand-Am series with the team of Eddie Cheever. Obtained a second place and a sixth, to be located in the 23rd position in the drivers' championship of DP class. That same year, he participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Saleen S7, where he finished in sixth place in the GT1 class, a total of eleven participants.
Continuing with Cheever, Fittipaldi achieved a fourth, seventh and eighth in 2007 and resulting twentieth in the overall table of the DP class of the Grand Am Series. Also, it came tenth in the GT1 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the wheel of an Aston Martin DB9 of team Modena alongside Antonio Garcia and amateur.
Fittipaldi disputed the first four rounds of the 2008 American Le Mans Series with Andretti Green. Piloting an Acura LMP2 with Bryan Herta, earned a fourth place, a fifth, a sixth and a seventh. Then again disputed the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin DB9 of Modena, reaching delayed in the thirtieth overall position. He then ran in the final five rounds of the Grand-Am series with a Coyote-Pontiac of Cheever's team, earning a second place and a sixth.
Fittipaldi was invited to run the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona with a Porsche-Riley of Action Express Racing, resulting third overall with Max Papis and João Barbosa among others. In 2012, he participated again in this race with Action Express, in this case at the wheel of a Chevrolet Corvette DP, with which finished fifth.
Fittipaldi became in regular driver of Action Express for the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season. He achieved two wins at Mid-Ohio and the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, two second places, a fourth and a fifth, mostly with Barbosa. Thus, he was seventh in the drivers' championship in the Daytona Prototypes class.
Fittipaldi won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2014 in the Action Express Corvette DP with João Barbosa and Sébastien Bourdais.
Motorsports career results
Complete British Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Entrant Chassis Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points 1990 West Surrey Racing Ralt RT34 Mugen-Honda A DON SIL THR BRH SIL BRH THR SIL DON SIL SNE OUL SIL BRH DON THR SIL 4th 36
Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 1991 Pacific Racing Reynard 91D Mugen Honda VAL PAU JER MUG PER HOC BRH SPA BUG NOG 1st 47
Complete Formula One results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points 1992 Minardi Team Minardi M191 Lamborghini 3.5 L V12 RSA MEX BRA ESP 18th 1 Minardi M192 Lamborghini 3.5 L V12 SMR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS 1993 Minardi Team Minardi M193 Ford HB 3.5 L V8 RSA BRA EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS 13th 5 1994 Footwork Ford Footwork FA15 Ford HB 3.5 L V8 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN AUS 15th 6
Complete CART results (key)
Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points Ref 1995 Walker Racing 15 Reynard 95i Ford XB V8tMIASRFPHXLBHNZRINDYMILDETPORROATORCLEMISMDONHMVANLS15th54 1996 Newman/Haas Racing 11 Lola T96/00 Ford XD V8tMIARIOSRFLBHNZR500MILDETPORCLETORMISMDOROAVANLS5th110 1997 Newman/Haas Racing Swift 007.i Ford XD V8tMIASRFLBHInjNZRInjRIOInjSTLInjMILInjDETInjPORCLETORMISMDOROAVANLSFON15th42 1998 Newman/Haas Racing Swift 009.c Ford XD V8tMIAMOTLBHNZRRIOSTLMILDETPORCLETORMISMDOROAVANLSHOUSRFFON14th56 1999 Newman/Haas Racing Swift 010.c Ford XD V8tMIAMOTLBHNZRRIOSTLMILPORCLEROATORMISDETInjMDOInjCHIInjVANInjLSInjHOUSRFFON7th121 2000 Newman/Haas Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford XF V8tMIALBHRIOMOTNZRMILDETPORCLETORMISCHIMDOROAVANLSSTLHOUSRFFON12th96 2001 Newman/Haas Racing Lola B01/00 Toyota RV8F V8tMTYLBHTXSNHNZRMOTMILDETPORCLETORMISCHIMDOROAVANLAUROCHOULSSRFFON15th70 2002 Newman/Haas Racing Lola B02/00 Toyota RV8F V8tMTYLBHMOTMILLSPORCHITORCLEVANMDOROAMTLDENROCMIASRFFONMXC5th122
Indianapolis 500 Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 1995 Reynard Ford-Cosworth 27 2 Walker Racing
Complete A1 Grand Prix results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points 2005–06 Brazil GBRSPR GBRFEA GERSPR GERFEA PORSPR PORFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA UAESPR UAEFEA RSASPR RSAFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA USASPR USAFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA 6th 71
Complete Stock Car Brasil results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 2005 Terra-Avallone Mitsubishi Lancer INT CTB RIO INT CTB LON BSB SCZ TAR ARG RIO INT 23rd 32 2006 Terra-Avallone Mitsubishi Lancer INT CTB CGD INT LON CTB SCZ 27th 9 RC3 Bassani Chevrolet Astra BSB TAR ARG RIO INT 2010 Gramacho Competições Chevrolet Vectra INT CTB VEL RIO RBP SAL INT CGD LON SCZ BSB CTB 34th 1
24 Hours of Daytona results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2003 Bell Motorsports Didier Theys Forest Barber Terry Borcheller Doran JE4-Chevrolet DP 67 DNF DNF 2004 Bell Motorsports Andy Pilgrim Forest Barber Terry Borcheller Doran JE4-Pontiac DP 526 1st 1st 2005 Kodak-Bell Motorsports Paul Tracy Terry Borcheller Ralf Kelleners Doran JE4-Pontiac DP 328 DNF DNF 2006 Cheever Racing Eddie Cheever, Jr. Patrick Carpentier Crawford DP03-Lexus DP 669 DNF DNF 2007 Cheever Racing Eddie Cheever, Jr. Emmanuel Collard Sascha Maassen Crawford DP03-Porsche DP 601 24th 14th 2011 Action Express Racing Terry Borcheller J. C. France João Barbosa Max Papis Riley Mk. XI-Porsche DP 721 3rd 3rd 2012 Action Express Racing David Donohue Darren Law Coyote Corvette DP DP 758 5th 5th 2013 Action Express Racing João Barbosa Burt Frisselle Mike Rockenfeller Coyote Corvette DP DP 708 4th 4th 2014 Action Express Racing João Barbosa Sébastien Bourdais Coyote Corvette DP P 6951st1st 2015 Action Express Racing João Barbosa Sébastien Bourdais Coyote Corvette DP P 7402nd2nd 2016 Action Express Racing João Barbosa Filipe Albuquerque Scott Pruett Coyote Corvette DP P 731 4th 4th 2017 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa Filipe Albuquerque Cadillac DPi-V.R P 6592nd2nd 2018 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa Filipe Albuquerque Cadillac DPi-V.R P 808 1st 1st 2019 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa Filipe Albuquerque Cadillac DPi-V.R DPi 573 9th 7th
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2006 ACEMCO Motorsports Johnny Mowlem Terry Borcheller Saleen S7-R GT1 337 12th 7th 2007 Team Modena Antonio García Jos Menten Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 318 17th 10th 2008 Team Modena Terry Borcheller Jos Menten Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 302 30th 8th
Complete American Le Mans Series results