Christian Fittipaldi Explained

Christian Fittipaldi
Nationality: Brazilian
Birth Date:18 January 1971
Birth Place:São Paulo, Brazil
Related To:Wilson Fittipaldi (father)
Emerson Fittipaldi (uncle)
Pietro Fittipaldi (first cousin once-removed)
Enzo Fittipaldi (first cousin once-removed)
Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. (cousin)
Max Papis (cousin-in-law)
Racing Licence: FIA Gold
Current Series:WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
First Year:2014
Current Team:Action Express Racing
Car Number:5
Engine:Chevrolet 5.5L V8
Codriver: João Barbosa
Sébastien Bourdais
Starts:47
Championships:2
Wins:7
Poles:6
Best Finish:1st
Year:2014, 2015
Last Finish:3rd (2017)
Prev Series:American Le Mans
Rolex Sports Car Series
A1 Grand Prix
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
ARCA Re/Max Series
NASCAR Busch Series
CART
Formula One
Formula 3000
Prev Series Years:2008
20032013
2005–06
2002–2003
2003
2002
19952002

1991
Titles:Formula 3000
Title Years:1991
Awards:Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
Award Years:1995
Module:
Embed:yes Years = –
Races:43 (40 starts)
Championships:0
Wins:0
Podiums:0
Poles:0
Points:12
Fastest Laps:0
Embed:yes
Total Champ Races:135
Years In Champ:8
Years:19952002
Champ Car Team:Walker Racing
Newman/Haas Racing
Best Champ Pos:5th (1996, 2002)
First Champ Race:1995 Grand Prix of Miami (Bicentennial Park)
Last Champ Race:2002 Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante (Mexico City)
First Champ Win:1999 Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America (Road America)
Last Champ Win:2000 Marlboro 500 (Fontana)
Champ Wins:2
Champ Podiums:20
Champ Poles:1
Embed:yes
Total Cup Races:16
Years In Cup:2
Best Cup Pos:44th (2003)
First Cup Race:2002 Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil (Phoenix)
Last Cup Race:2003 UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte)
Cup Wins:0
Cup Top Tens:0
Cup Poles:0
Total Busch Races:3
Years In Busch:2
Best Busch Pos:102nd (2002)
First Busch Race:2002 GNC Live Well 300 (Homestead)
Last Busch Race:2002 Mr. Goodcents 300 (Kansas)
Busch Wins:0
Busch Top Tens:0
Busch Poles:0

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.[1]

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, the Brazilian 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

His 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.[2]

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.

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 #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 #44 car.

Sports cars racing

In parallel to his activity in Formula 1, was 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.

The Brazilian 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 Jr. 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 20th 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 30th 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.

The driver 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.

The Brazilian 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.

He won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2014 in the Action Express Corvette DP with João Barbosa and Sébastien Bourdais.

Motorsports career results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Racesin italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

YearEntrantChassisEngine12345678910111213141516WDCPoints
1992Minardi TeamMinardi M191Lamborghini 3.5 L V12RSA
MEX
BRA
ESP
18th1
Minardi M192Lamborghini 3.5 L V12SMR
MON
CAN
FRA
GBRGERHUNBEL
ITA
POR
JPN
AUS
1993Minardi TeamMinardi M193Ford HB 3.5 L V8RSA
BRA
EUR
SMR
ESP
MON
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
POR
JPNAUS13th5
1994Footwork FordFootwork FA15Ford HB 3.5 L V8BRA
PAC
SMR
MON
ESP
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
POR
EUR
JPN
AUS
15th6

Complete CART results

(key)

YearTeamChassisEngine123456789101112131415161718192021RankPointsRef
1995Walker RacingReynard 95iFord XB V8tMIA
SRF
PHX
LBH
NZR
INDY
MIL
DET
POR
ROA
TOR
CLE
MIS
MDO
NHM
VAN
LS
15th54[3]
1996Newman/Haas RacingLola T96/00Ford XD V8tMIA
RIO
SRF
LBH
NZR
500
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
MDO
ROA
VAN
LS
5th110[4]
1997Newman/Haas RacingSwift 007.iFord XD V8tMIA
SRF
LBH
Inj
NZR
Inj
RIO
Inj
STL
Inj
MIL
Inj
DET
Inj
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
MDO
ROA
VAN
LS
FON
15th42[5]
1998Newman/Haas RacingSwift 009.cFord XD V8tMIA
MOT
LBH
NZR
RIO
STL
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
MDO
ROA
VAN
LS
HOU
SRF
FON
14th56[6]
1999Newman/Haas RacingSwift 010.cFord XD V8tMIA
MOT
LBH
NZR
RIO
STL
MIL
POR
CLE
ROA
TOR
MIS
DET
Inj
MDO
Inj
CHI
Inj
VAN
Inj
LS
Inj
HOU
SRF
FON
7th121[7]
2000Newman/Haas RacingLola B2K/00Ford XF V8tMIA
LBH
RIO
MOT
NZR
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
CHI
MDO
ROA
VAN
LS
STL
HOU
SRF
FON
12th96[8]
2001Newman/Haas RacingLola B01/00Toyota RV8F V8tMTY
LBH
TXS
NH
NZR
MOT
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
CHI
MDO
ROA
VAN
LAU
ROC
HOU
LS
SRF
FON
15th70[9]
2002Newman/Haas RacingLola B02/00Toyota RV8F V8tMTY
LBH
MOT
MIL
LS
POR
CHI
TOR
CLE
VAN
MDO
ROA
MTL
DEN
ROC
MIA
SRF
FON
MXC
5th122[10]

Indianapolis 500

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar123456789101112PosPoints
2005Terra-AvalloneMitsubishi LancerINT
CTB
RIO
INT
CTB
LON
BSB
SCZ
TAR
ARG
RIO
INT
23rd32
2006Terra-AvalloneMitsubishi LancerINTCTB
CGD
INT
LON
CTBSCZ27th9
RC3 BassaniChevrolet AstraBSB
TAR
ARG
RIO
INT
2010Gramacho CostaChevrolet VectraINT
CTB
VEL
RIO
RBP
SAL
INT
CGD
LON
SCZ
BSB
CTB
34th1

24 Hours of Daytona results

YearTeamCo-driversCarClassLaps
2003 Bell Motorsports Didier Theys
Forest Barber
Terry Borcheller
Doran JE4-ChevroletDP67DNFDNF
2004 Bell Motorsports Andy Pilgrim
Forest Barber
Terry Borcheller
Doran JE4-PontiacDP5261st1st
2005 Kodak-Bell Motorsports Paul Tracy
Terry Borcheller
Ralf Kelleners
Doran JE4-PontiacDP328DNFDNF
2006 Cheever Racing Eddie Cheever, Jr.
Patrick Carpentier
Crawford DP03-LexusDP669DNFDNF
2007 Cheever Racing Eddie Cheever, Jr.
Emmanuel Collard
Sascha Maassen
Crawford DP03-PorscheDP60124th14th
2011 Action Express Racing Terry Borcheller
J.C. France
João Barbosa
Max Papis
Riley Mk. XI-PorscheDP7213rd3rd
2012 Action Express Racing David Donohue
Darren Law
Coyote Corvette DPDP7585th5th
2013 Action Express Racing João Barbosa
Burt Frisselle
Mike Rockenfeller
Coyote Corvette DPDP7084th4th
2014 Action Express Racing João Barbosa
Sébastien Bourdais
Coyote Corvette DPP6951st1st
2015 Action Express Racing João Barbosa
Sébastien Bourdais
Coyote Corvette DPP7402nd2nd
2016 Action Express Racing João Barbosa
Filipe Albuquerque
Scott Pruett
Coyote Corvette DPP7314th4th
2017 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa
Filipe Albuquerque
Cadillac DPi-V.RP6592nd2nd
2018 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa
Filipe Albuquerque
Cadillac DPi-V.RP8081st1st
2019 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa
Filipe Albuquerque
Cadillac DPi-V.RDPi5739th7th

24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLaps
2006 ACEMCO Motorsports Johnny Mowlem
Terry Borcheller
Saleen S7-RGT133712th7th
2007 Team Modena Antonio García
Jos Menten
Aston Martin DBR9GT131817th10th
2008 Team Modena Terry Borcheller
Jos Menten
Aston Martin DBR9GT130230th8th

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

YearTeamClassMakeEngine1234567891011RankPoints
2014Action Express RacingPCoyote Corvette DPChevrolet 5.5L V8DAY
SEB
LBH
LGA
DET
WGL
MOS
IMS
ELK
COA
PET
2
1st349
2015Action Express RacingPCoyote Corvette DPChevrolet 5.5L V8DAY
SEB
LBH
LGA
DET
WGL
MOS
ELK
COA
PET
1st309
2016Action Express RacingPCoyote Corvette DPChevrolet 5.5L V8DAY
SEB
LBH
LGA
DET
WGL
MOS
ELK
COA
PET
2nd311
2017Mustang Sampling RacingPCadillac DPi-V.RCadillac 6.2 L V8DAY
SEB
LBH
COA
DET
WGL
MOS
ELK
LGA
PET
3rd284
2018Mustang Sampling RacingPCadillac DPi-V.RCadillac 5.5 L V8DAY
SEB
LBHMDODETWGL
MOS
ELKLGAPET
19th137
2019Mustang Sampling RacingDPiCadillac DPi-V.RCadillac 5.5 L V8DAY
SEBLBHMDODETWGLMOSELKLGAPET33rd24
Source:[11]

NASCAR

(key) (

Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
YearTeamNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536PtsRef
2002Petty Enterprises44DodgeDAYCARLVSATLDARBRITEXMARTALCALRCHCLTDOVPOCMCHSONDAYCHINHAPOCINDGLNMCHBRIDARRCHNHADOVKANTALCLTMARATLCARPHO
41
HOM81st40[12]
2003Andy Petree Racing33ChevyDAY
35
CARLVSATLDARBRI44th857[13]
Petty Enterprises45DodgeTEX
38
TALMARCALRCHCLTDOVPOC
43MCH
35
SON
40
CHI
29
NHA
37
POC
24
IND
DNQ
MCH
33
BRI
41
DAR
43
RCH
43
NHA
31
44DAY
DNQ
GLN
40
DOV
DNQ
TAL
28
KANCLT
34
MARATLPHOCARHOM
Daytona 500

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334PtsRef
2001SKI Motorsports30ChevyDAYCARLVSATLDARBRITEXNSHTALCALRCHNHANZHCLTDOVKENMLWGLNCHIGTYPPRIRPMCHBRIDARRCHDOVKANCLTMEMPHOCARHOM
39
141st56[14]
2002DAYCARLVSDARBRITEXNSHTALCALRCH
DNQ
NHANZHCLT
DNQ
DOVNSHKENMLWDAYCHIGTY
35
PPRIRPMCHBRIDARRCHDOVKAN
43
CLTMEM
QL
ATLCARPHOHOM102nd92[15]
– Qualified but replaced by Chad Chaffin

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (

Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Notes and References

  1. News: 2015 TUDOR UNITED SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP Point Standings. IMSA United Sportscar Championship. May 13, 2017. October 20, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161020011749/http://sportscarchampionship.imsa.com/sites/default/files/2015_tudor_championship_points_standings_-_official_1.pdf. dead.
  2. Web site: The Top 50 F1 drivers of all time, regardless of what they were driving . Mike . Hanlon . 2016-05-12 . 2017-12-23 . New Atlas .
  3. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 1995 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  4. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 1996 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  5. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 1997 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  6. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 1998 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  7. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 1999 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  8. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2000 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  9. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2001 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  10. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2002 CART Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 15, 2023.
  11. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi Results . October 26, 2023 . motorsportstats.com.
  12. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 13, 2023.
  13. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 13, 2023.
  14. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 13, 2023.
  15. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2002 NASCAR Busch Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 13, 2023.
  16. Web site: Christian Fittipaldi – 2003 ARCA Re/Max Series Results. Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. April 13, 2023.