Pietro Fittipaldi, the grandson of former world champion Emerson, will be the reserve driver for Haas in 2019.

The American team already had its eye on the 22-year-old this year, when he broke both his legs in a sports car race at Spa.

Haas has announced that Fittipaldi will be a test driver in 2019, and will also test for the American team in Ferrari's driver simulator at Maranello.

Team boss Gunther Steiner says Fittipaldi, who will actually live in Maranello to be close to the simulator, is not a pay-driver.

"We hired Pietro," he told Brazil's Globo. "It will help us develop the car during the season.

"We have kept in touch with him and followed his recovery. He will play a very important role on the team," Steiner added.

He said Fittipaldi will do the Pirelli tyre tests for Haas and also attend "all the races" in 2019.

"This is a big step," the 22-year-old said. "I am already working with the team here in Interlagos and in Abu Dhabi we will start development with a view to the 2019 championship.

"It is not yet confirmed if I will do any free practice, as it will depend a lot on how the team is in the championship, but that's one of the options.

"On Thursdays before the weekends I will use the simulator in Maranello, and every Thursday night I will travel to the race," Fittipaldi revealed.

He said F1 will be his main focus in 2019.

"Being test driver I will have to be at every race so the focus is on formula one. My dream is to be a formula one race driver one day," said Fittipaldi.

"Gunther also told me to keep racing, so we are looking at some options for racing next year. But the focus is working for Haas," he said.