Ferrari have announced that their reserve driver Robert Shwartzman will take part in Free Practice 1 at Dutch GP. The 23-year-old will get four free practice sessions in the 2023 Formula 1 season, replacing Carlos Sainz in the cockpit of the SF23B.
Shwartzman has been a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2017, and since leaving Formula 2 at the end of the 2021 – where he finished as the runner-up to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Shwartzman said he was thrilled to get the opportunity to drive for the Scuderia in F1.
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“It’s an honour to be chosen again by Scuderia Ferrari for the Formula 1 rookie Free Practice sessions and I am very excited to drive the SF-23 for the first time this week.
I really look forward to the very challenging Zandvoort circuit 🎢 and enjoying every second of driving a F1 car once more”, the 23-year-old tweeted.
Speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s Zandvoort action, Vasseur was asked of the team’s plans for the FP1 rookie outings. He responded: “Robert will do Zandvoort in Carlos’ car, and he will do another one – probably Abu Dhabi in Charles’ car.”
Vasseur also explained why the decision on which tracks to give rookies a run out is so difficult to make. He said: “I know that it is not an easy situation but Carlos… it’s not so easy to decide.
