Robert Shwartzman has said it is a "great honour" to get an outing with Ferrari, ahead of his planned appearance in US GP FP1 in place of Charles Leclerc. New rules regarding how Formula 1 teams give rookies a chance in their cars were changed in 2022 to state that all teams must now run a young driver, classified as someone with "two or fewer grands prix under their belt" during two free practice sessions this year. Shwartzman will become the first driver in 46 years since Ferrari has ran more than two drivers on a Grand Prix weekend, when Carlos Reutemann was ran during the weekend of Niki Lauda's comeback at the 1976 Italian Grand Prix. "Debuting in an official F1 session with Scuderia Ferrari is first of all a great honour and to be the first driver to have this opportunity after so many years makes what I will do on Friday really special," said Shwartzman. "I am obviously thrilled but at the same time I am also very keen to drive this car for the first time and see how close the work we’ve been doing in the simulator is to reality".
2022 has been a 'different year' for Shwartzman
Prior to the Russian invasion and subsequent war in Ukraine in February this year, Shwartzman competed under a Russian licence. Following the guidance of other sporting federations worldwide, the FIA restricted Russian athletes on competing in championships unless they competed under the neutral flag of the governing body. While the ban didn't affect Shwartzman due to the fact that he was born in Tel Aviv, Isreal and could compete under an Israeli licence, the FP1 session is the first time he has competed on a race weekend since the Formula 2 season finale in December last year. "2022 has been a very different year for me as it was planned that I would not race in any championships," said Shwartzman. "Instead, I am working full-time for the Scuderia, doing a lot of work in the simulator and I am very happy to have been part of this year’s team effort. "The experience I have gained this year has taught me a lot, and helped me become a more complete racing driver."
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