Fittipaldi to return to the track

Emerson Fittipaldi has vowed to come out of retirement to test the new Ferrari-powered A1GP World Cup of Motorsport car next season.

The 60-year-old A1 Team Brazil boss is so excited about A1GP’s involvement with Ferrari that he has confirmed he will get back behind the wheel to test the contemporary single-seater.

Following last week’s historic announcement that the Italian sports car manufacturer will supply all engines to A1GP from next season, Fittipaldi, who never drove for Ferrari in his Formula One career, will not race the car but instead will look to get behind the wheel at the earliest opportunity.

‘When I was told about the possibility of Ferrari coming on board I thought it was brilliant,’ Fittipaldi said.

‘The Ferrari name alone is incredible and people are going to give A1GP more respect and we are going to be much bigger. When Ferrari’s people visited us in Zandvoort they loved our A1GP weekend and they are very enthusiastic to get involved with A1GP.

‘Ferrari will help design a beautiful car. I always wanted to drive for Ferrari and now I can! I will at least test the car. I won’t race it, but I want to test the car. I’m very excited about it.

‘The partnership with Ferrari will make more drivers want to get involved in A1GP too. It will be an exciting formula for the racing.’