Enzo Fittipaldi will drive for the Lola team in Formula E this season after recently securing a deal to drive for the British based manufacturer.
The Brazilian grandson of two time F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi is set to join Robert Shwartzman at the team, which will enter its third Formula E season with its two cars dubbed the Lola T004s.
25 year-old Fittipaldi has tested the Lola GEN4 car in Spain last month and spent time at the Lola simulator in its new base of Silverstone, including yesterday. He also shook down his race car in the UK on Tuesday of this week.
Fittipaldi has raced predominantly in the Indy NXT series where he finished runner-up after scoring four wins at Indianapolis, Detroit and a brace of victories at Mid-Ohio.
Prior to that Fittipaldi spent three seasons in F2 after beginning his single-seater career by winning the 2018 Italian F4 series.
He also tested for the Jaguar TCS Racing team in 2024 and spent time on the team’s simulator.
Talking about his move in to Formula E, Fittipaldi said that the move was “a big step forward in my racing career, and I’m incredibly grateful to the team for putting their trust in me and giving me this opportunity.
“Lola is a name with so much history and heritage in motorsport, and it’s a privilege to be part of this new chapter alongside Yamaha. I’m also thrilled to be joining the team at such an exciting time, with projects like the T70S bringing Lola’s iconic past into the future.”
Fittipaldi’s grandfather, the great Emerson Fittipaldi drove several Lolas in his career, notably the Lola T87/00 CART design with which he won the Mid-Ohio and Elkhart Lake CART events in 1988 with Patrick Racing.
Enzo’s cousin Christian Fittipaldi also drove several Lola designs, winning the 2000 Fontana race with a Lola B2K/00 with Newman Haas Racing, a team with a long association with the Lola marque.
Fittipaldis in Formula E; and how might the latest fair?
Emerson Fittipaldi has long been a supporter of Formula E ever since he visited his first E-Prix at Zurich in 2018, a race in which he also undertook laps in a GEN1 car.
The former F1 and CART legend, who also too two wins in his stateside career as well as F1 titles for Lotus and McLaren has been seen at several races since that time, notably at the Sao Paulo E-Prix over the years.
Emerson’s nephew and Enzo’s brother, Pietro Fittipaldi, has also tested Formula E GEN2 machinery, when he also ran with Jaguar at the Marrakech rookie test in 2018.
Fittipaldi is on a steep learning curve at Lola and in Shwartzman will have a formidable teammate to get to grips with, albeit a fellow rookie one.
But perhaps more significant will be what shape the Lola team is in by the start of the season, which is now anticipated to be at the Mexico City E-Prix in January.
Lola is still re-building its team after its choice of stopping an association with the ABT organisation and bringing its capability in-house. It has recruited engineers recently but has also lost some, notably to new Formula E start-up team Fusion.
That will ultimately dictate a great deal of what Fittipaldi may be capable of in his maiden season. Word is that the Lola GEN4 car is fast but fragile.
If the second part of that assumption is still true then just finishing races in the first phase of GEN4 may be an accomplishment for the latest Fittipaldi to race in a world championship.
