Emerson Fittipaldi Jr banked his first Formula 2 points in Saturday’s Montreal Sprint Race, converting a P9 grid slot into a classified fifth at the end of a tight, DRS-heavy contest. The AIX Racing rookie took the chequered flag in seventh before post-race penalties elevated him two places, sealing a milestone result in Round 3 of the season.
The Brazilian, 19, had narrowly missed the top 10 in qualifying, ending up 11th and just 0.030s shy of Gabriele Minì. With several rivals serving grid penalties, he lined up ninth for the Sprint and immediately showed strong pace, running in a DRS train led by the second-placed car and holding his own in a busy midfield.
From there, Fittipaldi picked his moments and benefitted as others hit trouble ahead. After penalties were applied following the race, he emerged with fifth place and his first points at F2 level — a return he attributed to AIX’s preparation and growing momentum.
"It's overall about our collaboration with the team and everybody working together," he said. "There was a lot of prep done before even the event on the simulator that made a big impact on our results because from FP, we were already quite competitive in the top 10 and we stayed there."
"So just really thankful to God and to the team to be able to make such a good race car for me to race today and to be able to finally finish in the points is fantastic."
Racing at the sharp end for the first time in Formula 2 brought its own challenges, but Fittipaldi relished the opportunity to go wheel-to-wheel with the leading pack.
"Well the first time racing in the front pack in Formula 2 is never easy," he said. "These guys in the front are very talented and they're very good drivers, everybody on the grid is.
"These guys especially in the front are fantastic drivers and it was just an incredible opportunity to be racing wheel-to-wheel with them.
"This is what I wanted to do this whole season and I finally managed to do it now here in Canada in Round 3. So, it's something that we had hoped for even later in the year, to get some points but we got it really early.
"So we hope we can continue working from here and just developing and maybe take the next step, hopefully a podium in some races, even tomorrow we still have another race. It's maybe going to be mixed weather or really wet so you never know, it could shift."
Fittipaldi noted that AIX’s qualifying speed offered early encouragement — his best lap had placed him inside the top 10 before late improvements shuffled him back. Even so, the trend through practice, qualifying and the Sprint suggested a solid baseline heading into the longer Sunday test.
"Of course starting P11 tomorrow I'm still in the fight for the points," he said. "Hopefully we can score some more points tomorrow and also you never know what can happen."
What to watch next: All eyes turn to the Montreal Feature Race, where changing weather could reshuffle the order. Fittipaldi starts P11 and will look to build on AIX Racing’s upward curve and his Montreal breakthrough.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/fittipaldi-jr-claims-maiden-f2-points-in-montreal-sprint). Visit for full coverage.*
