The 23-year-old, who now competes with an Israeli passport and license in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will complete the two Free Practice 1 sessions in which Ferrari has to field an inexperienced driver to comply with F1 regulations. at the United States and Abu Dhabi GPs.
Robert Shwartzman won the Formula 3 title in 2019 and then moved on to Formula 2, finishing fourth in 2020 and runner-up last year, behind only Oscar Piastri.
The first time he drove a Formula 1 car was also thanks to Ferrari, at the Abu Dhabi rookie test in December 2020, before making other appearances in some tests for the Maranello team and also for Haas.
He gained more experience this year when he got behind the wheel of the 2018 SF17H at Fiorano in January, and also drove the 2021 SF21 at Mugello in July.
Despite the fact that he has not yet been able to drive a 2022 F1, he has been working on the new Ferrari simulator, and his appearances in FP1 are partly intended to contribute to that process of correlation between the simulator and the track.
With Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both signed long-term, there doesn’t seem to be any chance for Shwartzman or any other driver at Ferrari any time soon.
However, Mattia Binotto insists he is fully prepared to make the jump to F1, saying he has shone in all the tests he has done so far.
“Robert is a fantastic driver,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com for his thoughts on the 23-year-old. “I think he is very fast, especially behind the wheel of an F1 car.”
“Whenever he has driven an F1 he has been very fast. There are drivers who are maybe very good in F3 or F2 and then they are not good enough in F1.
“I think Robert is just the opposite. He’s been very good in F3 and F2, but he’s very, very good in F1. So it’s a shame for him not to have any seats at the moment.
Binotto also paid tribute to the contribution that Shwartzman has made at Maranello: “This season he has worked a lot in the simulator. He has helped our team a lot to develop the current car.”
“I think as a driver he has improved, he has developed his own skills, and he is much more mature today than he was a year ago. And so I think he is a driver who would deserve a seat.
“We know it’s very difficult right now, but hopefully in the future it can happen.”
At the moment, the name of the Russian/Israeli driver only sounds within the Haas F1 Team , a team in which he could land to replace Mick Schumacher, although it seems that the American team has other names ahead on its list of candidates. .
