|
Frenchman Grosjean suffered burns to the back
of his hands in a fiery crash that split his car in two during
Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 34-year-old is expected to remain in hospital until Tuesday.
The team said he was unable to compete.
"After it was decided that the best thing for Romain was to skip
at least one race, the choice to put Pietro in the car was
pretty easy," said team principal Guenther Steiner in a
statememt.
"He’s familiar with us having been around the team for the past
two seasons as a test and reserve driver. It’s the right thing
to do and it’s obviously a good opportunity for him.
"He’s been patient and was always prepared for this opportunity
and now it has come. That’s why we want him in the car and I’m
sure he’ll do a good job."
The Miami-born Brazilian, 24, is a grandson of twice Formula One
world champion and double Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson
Fittipaldi.
The Sakhir Grand Prix is the penultimate race of the season,
which ends in Abu Dhabi a weekend later. Haas are ninth out of
10 teams in the standings and have not scored a point since the
Eifel Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring on Oct. 11.
Fittipaldi recognised it was "not an ideal set of circumstances"
for his debut but is familiar with the team's operating
procedures from working with them trackside and in the
simulator.
"It’s going to be exciting to make my first career start in
Formula One - I’ll be giving it my all and I look forward to
starting in free practice on Friday in Bahrain," he said.
Grosjean is due to leave Ferrari-powered Haas at the end of the
season along with Danish team mate Kevin Magnussen.
Mick Schumacher, son of seven times world champion Michael and
the current Formula Two leader, is expected to join for next
season along with Russian Nikita Mazepin.
Both drivers are in Bahrain but next weekend will be the Formula
Two title decider.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
