HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) - Champion driver Emerson Fittipaldi is known as a legend and his son also has a need for speed.
Fittipaldi’s son is only 13 years old, but he’s already racing to follow his father’s footsteps.
“I saw a book of my dad in my house and I was like, ‘Who is this?’ and then I asked him and he said it was him,” said Emerson Fittipaldi Jr., Formula Four driver. “Then, every night he would come and tell me stories and everything, and that’s what I really liked.”
His father is a two-time Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champion.
“When he was 5, 6 years old he started, ‘Daddy, I want to race, I want to race,'” said Fittipaldi. “Sometimes the fathers push their kids to do a sport, but the kid has to first like [it], then the father has to support.”
His son started go-kart racing when he was 8 years old, and has since been one of the top young drivers in the world at his level.
Fittipaldi Jr. recently tested an F4 car for the first time at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The car can hit speeds over 145 mph.
The 13-year-old said day one of the test went well.
“It’s because of the speed and the way how you can enjoy yourself while you’re on the track,” he said. “It’s just a high-adrenaline sport.”
As the next stage of racing for Fittipaldi Jr. begins, his father already sounds like his pit crew chief.
“You have time on the streets to look in the mirror to see, [here] there’s no time to look at anything,” Fittipaldi said. “The dynamic of the car, the car is much heavier. The transition from straight-lining to the corner takes longer than a go-kart.”
When Fittipaldi Jr. turns 14 next year, he’ll be able to compete in the Formula Four racing series in Mexico.
By the time he turns 15, he’ll be taking on races in the U.S. and Europe.
His goal is to move up to F1 racing where drivers have to be 18 years old.
“You’re going into a sport that extremely difficult — mentally, physically, spiritually,” his father said. “You have to do it with love and passion, that’s the advice I give to him.”
Fittipaldi Jr. already has a sponsor, the Miami-based branding agency The Brand Institute.
“I don’t get too much pressure because of the name because I’m doing something that I’m trying my best,” said Fittipaldi Jr. “I’m not doing it because I have to win the race, but I’m doing it so I can try to win the race. That’s how I deal with my pressure all the time.”
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