Ferrari Driver Academy member Robert Shwartzman got behind the wheel of the Ferrari F1-21 car at the Mugello circuit today, for a testing session. This was the second testing session for Robert Shwartzman, who competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for 2020 and 2021 where he finished 4th and 2nd respectively, as the Ferrari test driver also got the chance to drive a 2018 SF71H at Fiorano back at the beginning of the year. Overall, it was the eighth test session of his career, as part of the plan tailor-made for him to get as much experience as possible in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car.
Robert Shwartzman, who also has Israeli nationality by virtue of being born near Tel Aviv, wore the colours of that country for the first time today, given the ban imposed by the FIA on Russian drivers, took to the Mugello circuit shortly after 9am carrying out some car set-up work and then continued with the day’s programme, running various fuel levels, simulating both qualifying and race runs. The testing session was useful for him to assess on track the same conditions he usually works with on the simulator and provide data for comparison. Over the course of the day, at the Ferrari-owned circuit in Tuscany, the Russo-Israeli racing driver completed 130 laps, a distance of 681 kilometres.
The session for very important for the Ferrari Driver Academy member, who will get the opportunity to drive in at least two free practice sessions at Formula One World Championship events during the current F1 campaign, as per a new rule for 2022. But at the same it was also valuable training for other Scuderia personnel. The crew working at Maranello today was made up of a mix of very experienced mechanics and engineers, working alongside youngsters training in Maranello, with currently only limited trackside experience, but with the prospects of working for the Ferrari Formula 1 team in the future.
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