Robert Shwartzman: "Comparing Ferrari SF-23 with F1-75 will be interesting"

FP1: Robert Shwartzman returns to the track for the Maranello team
Among the various anticipated changes for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, one of the most intriguing is Carlos Sainz’s absence from the wheel of the Ferrari during the first free practice session at the Zandvoort circuit located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands.

However, the Spanish driver’s absence is far from concerning; the Maranello-based team will instead field their test driver, Robert Shwartzman, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2017 and recognized as a rookie. In this way, the Prancing Horse will adhere to a regulation that mandates the participation of a rookie driver in at least two first practice sessions over the course of the Formula One championship.

Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur has temporarily selected the 23-year-old Israeli for this session in view of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Differences with Past Single-Seaters
In the coming weeks or months, Ferrari will make the same choice for a second official weekend, opting for another talent from the Ferrari youth program or perhaps the same Robert Shwartzman, who already took to the track in Austin and Abu Dhabi last season. For this reason, the driver with Israeli (and Russian) citizenship has also emphasized his expectations, which will allow him to discern technical differences between this year’s SF-23 and the 2022 F1-75, especially after having conducted preparation tests with the 2021 car:

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“I’m excited to get behind the wheel of the SF-23 after working on its development in the simulator,” he explained in an interview with the official Ferrari website ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix. “Driving a Formula 1 car during a World Championship race weekend is truly special and something to be very proud of, especially when representing Scuderia Ferrari, the team that has supported me throughout my career. Before the summer break, I did a half-day of testing at Fiorano and reacquainted myself with the cockpit, as it had been quite a while since I last drove a single-seater. Even though the car was an SF21, which is very different from the SF-23 and has 13-inch tires, it was still a very useful session to prepare for these free practices at Zandvoort. It will be interesting for me to have the opportunity to get into this year’s car and compare it with last year’s F1-75.” – the 23-year-old driver pointed out.

A Useful Endeavor
Beyond his personal experience, Robert Shwartzman will also work at Zandvoort to contribute to the SF-23 car’s development, benefiting both the Dutch GP and the progress in the latter part of this Formula One season: “On my part, I’ll do my best to assist the team as much as possible by completing the work plan, which is designed to extract the most from the car both in terms of setup and data collection. These data will be valuable to the team for the second part of the season. Indeed, there’s a development program underway behind the scenes at the Maranello simulator that needs as much data as possible to continue progressing even further.” – the Russo-Israeli racing driver explained.

The Challenge of Zandvoort
In conclusion, the young Ferrari talent also had the opportunity to explain the characteristics of the Zandvoort track, which he faced only once in the Formula 3 European Championship and on other occasions solely in the simulator: “Zandvoort is one of the toughest tracks on the Formula 1 calendar, and I’ve only physically driven it once before the circuit was modified, so it will all seem very new to me,” he concluded. “From what I’ve experienced on the simulator, it’s extremely demanding, with corners characterized by significant banking, some of which can be approached with various trajectories. It’s also demanding on the car, as it pushes it to the limit in various aspects. Despite being quite complex, it’s also a very interesting track from the standpoint of pure driving, so I look forward to having quite a bit of fun next Friday.”