Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. “put everything together” in Madrid as he builds on rookie F2 season
When AIX Racing’s Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. crossed the line in F2’s Madrid to score his first podium, it was easy to make out just why he was delighted.
For any rookie coming into the championship, that first podium finish is always a special moment, and can open the floodgates to a series of big results following suit.
But for the Brazilian, the challenges to this result have been manifold. Stepping up from the Eurocup-3 series, Fittipaldi effectively passed two levels of racing: the Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) and Formula 3, along the ladder to Formula One.
Both championships allow drivers to gain experience around familiar circuits, and the advancement in machinery meant drivers gradually brings about improvements in their physical fitness. Fittipaldi Jr. missed out on the opportunities his fellow rookies took along the way to F2.
Announced on AIX Racing’s 2026 roster as early as July 2025, it was already a foregone conclusion that Fittipaldi Jr. would spend his first F2 season learning the ropes. The 19-year-old had alluded to the same ahead of the season, pencilling 2026 as a learning curve at AIX Racing.
Despite gaining experience around tracks such as Barcelona, Monza, Spa-Francorchamps, Red Bull Ring and the Hungaroring during his Eurocup-3 and Italian F4 days, it’s no surprise to imagine why the AIX racer was chasing experience and had to start from scratch once again this year.
The F2 car is an entirely different beast to the smaller, lower-profiled machine Fittipaldi Jr. had raced in his Eurocup 3 days back in 2025. With more power underneath his right foot, a stronger brake pedal, and the added challenge of navigating pit stops and bringing the tyres up to speed, the learning curve was always set to be steep.
“Every time I get to go on track, I'm learning a lot, and I keep on learning (more and more),” the Brazilian driver expressed, speaking ahead of F2’s Baku weekend.
The Brazilian has also had to navigate the challenges of higher tyre degradation, and the varying grip levels on the super soft tyre, as well as the soft and hard compounds over the course of his race weekends.
It’s something the AIX racer had to surmount even at F2’s latest event at the Madring, when the Brazilian held off a charging Trident of Laurens van Hoepen to score his first podium. “It was quite tough, my car was not the easiest one to drive. So I was struggling a lot,” Fittipaldi Jr. had reiterated, speaking to the media after the sprint at the Madring.
He had good reason, too. Madrid’s street circuit proved to be an intense rollercoaster for the F2 grid, with its relentless track layout often leaving no respite for drivers, or no margin for error.
But even as the challenges of La Monumental’s banking and the intensity of the circuit lay ahead, it opened up as much of an opportunity for Fittipaldi Jr. and AIX Racing to capitalise on, and score a big result.
“Those are the tracks which were new for everyone,” Fittipaldi Jr. said, speaking to DIVEBOMB on his Madring weekend. “It was always good to know that everybody was starting on the same page.”
It was the best opportunity for the AIX racer to translate his experience and learning gained in the championship and showcase his speed by gathering a strong understanding of the track ahead of the weekend.
“We put a lot of work on the simulator before with the team, and a lot of development,” he said, speaking on the Madring weekend. “So when we arrived there (at the track), it was less of a new track, and we knew what to expect,” Fittipaldi Jr. said.
His words came true in the 30-minute qualifying session later on Friday. In a session riddled with incidents and three red flags, the all-important final laps saw the Brazilian rookie put himself up in 10th, scoring AIX Racing’s best result in qualifying all season.
With the Madring’s tight characteristics proving difficult for overtaking, his starting position proved crucial in order to chase the ultimate result.
With the top 10 reversed for the 21-lap sprint, Fittipaldi Jr. started from the front of the field. He lost the lead off the line to Hitech’s Ritomo Miyata. The Japanese driver went on to retain the position all through the sprint, even through two safety car periods. But Fittipaldi Jr.’s chances of a podium still ran strong, as long as he stayed away from the barriers.
The AIX man drove carefully, albeit with a hint of caution as he fended off the chasing Trident of van Hoepen. It was the highest an AIX Racing car had been all year, and with the team chasing their first rostrum appearance, it was imperative for the Brazilian to ensure he eventually crossed the line in the same position.
As he rounded the final corner and crossed the line, there was a sense of relief and joy for Fittipaldi Jr. A podium finish at a new track, celebrating and soaking in the success at the end of a prolonged run of races outside the points.
Adding to the moment was his dad, two-time Formula One champion Emerson Fittipaldi Sr. joining in the fervent celebrations, enjoying his son’s first taste of success in the championship.
Fittipaldi Jr. then went on to take advantage of the safety car period in Sunday’s Feature Race, eventually sitting fourth in the order as the field returned to green flag running. Despite losing the position to Invicta’s Joshua Dürksen, a top-five result delivered a significant boost and belief for the Fittipaldi Jr. camp.
With the novelty of the circuit and its characteristics playing into their favours, the Brazilian had scored points in both races, capitalising on one of the biggest opportunities that came his way all season.
“It (Madrid) was a big turning point for my career,” Fittipaldi Jr. said. “This year, it was very important to get a result like that, for confidence and also for the team.”
“We did expect this result many times before, but unfortunately the circumstances did not help us that much,” the Brazilian said, speaking on the difficulties the team had encountered all season.
AIX Racing have struggled for outright pace all season long, with both Fittipaldi Jr. and teammate Cian Shields banking on running the hard compound tyre late into the race, or looking to a safety car to open up opportunities to score points in the season.
For Fittipaldi Jr., his best results of the season have come at newer venues, with big points at the Madring as well as Canada earlier in the season. Starting ninth for the sprint in Montréal, Fittipaldi Jr. climbed four places, capitalising on incidents for others ahead to finish a stellar fifth.
The Brazilian had also scored an encouraging 12th in Miami, showing strong performance across all of F2’s new venues in 2026.
“It's the only three weekends where everybody had the same amount of experience: No (prior) experience at all. The team and I did a good job, and we managed to put everything together,” Fittipaldi Jr. said, delighted to have taken the best chances to score big in 2026.
The Brazilian now heads to Baku, looking to continue his run of scoring on street circuits this season. Having scored at Montréal, Monaco and the Madring earlier, Fittipaldi Jr. has fared strongly around street venues, something he hadn’t experienced at all coming into F2.
“I think I have a small advantage on street tracks because I do like them a lot,” the AIX man expressed. “They're very challenging, and I think that's where you know kind of separates a bit of the grid.”
Yet, despite Baku being a regular fixture on the calendar, it presents the same challenge to F2’s rookie contingent. With F3 not featuring in the Azerbaijan capital’s streets, drivers graduating to F2 this year face the same challenge as Fittipaldi Jr. and will need to learn the track from scratch.
But if anything can be said about this configuration, Baku rewards the rookies pushing to the limit. Dino Beganovic took victory in the sprint for Hitech at the venue in 2025, for his first F2 win, while the last four winners in the sprint have been rookies.
Ollie Bearman took pole at Baku in 2023, before taking both race wins over the weekend, showing a blueprint for drivers getting up to speed quickly around the 6.003 km (3.7 mi) street circuit.
With F2 running a supersized Baku weekend, featuring two qualifying sessions and two Feature Races, the weekend will reward drivers handsomely for getting up to speed and being on the limit. Expect a surprise or two, and if anything, an opportunity for Fittipaldi Jr. and AIX to carry forward the momentum from a special weekend in Madrid.
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