Robert Schwartzman F1: What’s The Role of F2 Driver in Ferrari 2023 Season?
Robert Schwartzman is among the drivers who have been associated with Ferrari for a long time. The 23-year-old race driver has been a part of the Ferrari drivers academy for a long time and is still associated with them.
Considering he is ranked among the best academy products by the Maranello-based team, Ferrari has kept him in their clutches before any other side poaches him. That’s why they have given him a prominent role in the team.
This year, he has been appointed as one of the reserve drivers in Ferrari. This year is not the first time he has served in this role. Even in 2022, he performed the same responsibility for his team. This year, Antonio Giovinazzi has also been given the same role.
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Also read: Mercedes F1 Boss Ends Lewis Hamilton’s Title Hopes With Just Four Words
What does Robert Schwartzman do in F1?
The primary job of Schwartzman at Ferrari as a reserve driver is to be available for Ferrari for their car development during the season. Be it on the simulator or the track. He tests their car across the season and gives feedback to allow Ferrari engineers to make precise developments throughout the season to keep up with their title campaign.
Moreover, he must report to the team during the Grand Prix races, and fit in the car, if either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz becomes unavailable. Also, he could be obligated to make a few free practice appearances, which not only helps the team to get varied data but also helps him to keep up with his superlicense points. According to Mediafree, his annual salary is around $40,000.
As of now, he could land a move to Indycar with Chip Ganassi Racing, as he had a test with them in January. His fellow academy driver Callum Ilott is already over the Atlantic in the same series.
Is Robert Schwartzman racing in F2 this year?
In 2020, Ferrari had a sensational line of drivers participating in F1— Mick Schumacher, Ilott and Schwartzmann. All three of them that year were vying for the championship.
Schwartzmann was in his rookie year in the series and made impactful appearances. That gave him enough confidence to give him another shot at the F2 championship. In 2021, he was defeated by Oscar Piastri for the title.
With that, Schwartzman decided to leave the series, as it requires massive funds to race in, even though he has some backing from Ferrari. With his current role, he hopes for his F1 dream to come true someday.
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Why has he adopted the Israeli flag?
In 2022, the Ferrari prospect started to race under the Israeli flag. Before that, he held the Russian flag for his races. But with Russia attacking Ukraine last year, FIA contemplated banning Russian drivers.
Meanwhile, some regional motorsport bodies, like the UK, have already implemented that ban within their borders. So, Schwartzman was quick to adopt the Israeli flag. Considering he was born there and his paternal family are Polish Jews, he already had an Israeli passport. Thus, the transition was easy.
However, the FIA eventually didn’t ban the Russian and Belarusian drivers from racing in their governed events until they were racing under a neutral flag. But the Russo-Israeli race decided to remain with his decision to race under the Israeli flag.
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