Ferrari reserve driver Robert Schwarzman will make his first official Formula One appearance at the US Grand Prix: First Free Practice in the Ferrari
Ferrari test driver Robert Schwarzman will make his official Formula One debut at the US Grand Prix at the end of October by taking part in the first free practice session
Schwarzman will take over one of the F1 75 cars from Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz in Friday practice at the Circuit of the Americas. This is part of every Formula One team’s commitment since the 2022 season to have rookies drive two FT1 sessions.
Ferrari’s race director Laurent Mekies already revealed that Schwarzman, who turns 23 on Friday, will be behind the wheel in both, although the location of the second session has not yet been decided. However, team boss Mattia Binotto has let slip that it is likely to be at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Schwarzman already with plenty of F1 test kilometres
“For us, Robert Schwarzman will drive our two practice sessions,” Mekies said in Hungary. “But we haven’t decided exactly which events those will be yet.”
“Races like Singapore or places where the regular drivers have to do more kilometres would not be chosen. But I don’t think we have a problem doing it on one of the weekends where we have Pirelli testing in first practice.”
Schwarzman finished second to Prema team-mate Piastri in last year’s FIA Formula 2 championship and took the FIA Formula 3 crown in his first season in 2019. He did not return to Formula 2 this year, instead taking on the role of Ferrari’s test driver, helping the race team in the simulator.
He also has experience with Formula 1 cars, having tried both the Ferrari SF21 and the Haas VF-21 at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi last December. Schwarzman also regularly tests old Ferrari Formula 1 cars at the Ferrari test track in Fiorano.
Also Colton Herta on the road in the USA FT1?
By switching from a Russian to an Israeli racing licence, the Tel Aviv-born Schwarzman is eligible to compete in Formula One Grand Prix weekends. It remains to be seen whether McLaren test driver and AlphaTauri dream candidate for 2023 Colton Herta will join Schwarzman in the USA’s FT1.
The IndyCar driver will test for Alpine at the Hungaroring before the Singapore weekend as part of his preparation for a possible race seat. Should he get special permission from the FIA for the lack of superlicence points, Herta will replace Pierre Gasly, who has switched to Alpine. Otherwise, Gasly would have to stay with AlphaTauri and Alpine would have to look for another solution to replace Fernando Alonso.
