F3: Fittipaldi ruled out of Pau by injury

Pietro Fittipaldi was forced to withdraw from the first race of the Formula 3 European Championship weekend at Pau due to breaking a bone in his left hand.

The Brazilian-American grandson of Emerson Fittipaldi crashed his Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes heavily at the final chicane early in his second qualifying session, meaning that he failed to qualify for races two and three. The injury meant he was unable to take his 11th spot on the grid for race one, giving Nicolas Pohler – who had failed to qualify – a reprieve.

Fittipaldi was at the circuit on Saturday morning wearing his racesuit, and told AUTOSPORT: "I wanted to drive but the doctors [at the track] called the hospital!

"As I went into the last chicane I braked a little bit too deep, locked up the tires and my right-front grabbed the wall."

Fortec's four-driver team is now down to two for Pau, with Peter Li having returned to China due to the illness of his father.

Fittipaldi hopes to recover sufficiently for the next round at Monza in two weeks' time.

Originally on Autosport.com