Will this Ferrari talent get a chance to show himself in F1 in 2023?

Robert Shwartzman is back in the picture of Formula 1, but the question is whether the Israeli-born driver really stands a chance of making his debut. GPblog dives into his past and why he disappeared from the picture in the first place.

Shwartzman in his younger years

Born in Tel Aviv on 16 September 1999, Shwartzman grew up in St Petersburg, Russia. He started karting at the age of five and he proved to have a talent for it. In 2013, for instance, he finished his last year of karting with a title in the WSK Final Cup, finished third in the World Championship and fourth in the European Championship.

In 2014, the Russian already made the switch to formula cars, but in the Italian F4 championship he only drove six races then. The following year, he would drive the whole season for Mücke Motorsport and finish third in the championship. Two races Shwartzman won and he finished behind Guanyu Zhou in the standings.

Since 2015, Shwartzman has actually managed to win at least two races every year. In 2016, he succeeded in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, in 2017 he won six races in the Formula Renault Eurocup and which earned him a spot in the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2018. In that year, he picks up two wins in Formula 3. In the last two championships, he finished third in the final standings each time, but that will change in 2019.

Breakthrough on behalf of Ferrari

Indeed, while in his first season in F3 he was still ahead of Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ticktum, in 2019 he is the overwhelming winner of the step-up class. Shwartzman wins three races, but his consistency is particularly remarkable. As a result, he wins the title with 212 points, 54 points more than number two Marcus Armstrong.

In 2020, Shwartzman should then really make his breakthrough. Ferrari will give him the best seat on the grid at Prema, and he can compete directly with Mick Schumacher as his teammate. However, the extra year of experience helps Schumacher in the fight for the title. Shwartzman wins more than anyone else with four wins, but two stoppages and quite a few moments outside the top ten mean he finishes fourth in the standings. Schumacher is appointed by Ferrari as the new driver for Haas, Shwartzman is put on hold.

That year is a big blow for Shwartzman. Had he performed better than Schumacher, there would have been a good chance he would now be in action for Haas in F1. Now, however, he had to stick a second year of F2 on the back of it and expectations only got higher. For Prema, a title was bound to come.

It did not come, however. Shwartzman was slightly more consistent than in 2020, winning only two races this time, but clearly had to give way to Oscar Piastri. He ended up 60.5 points short of the rookie. Guanyu Zhou, the only F2 driver to earn an F1 seat that year, finished third.

Preferred Schumacher and Giovinazzi

Despite a second place, no door opened anywhere for Shwartzman. With Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari already saw a Ferrari junior shown the door by Alfa Romeo, where the Italian team is clearly steering its own course. No more Ferrari juniors if they don't prove good enough. So Shwartzman was never in the picture.

Haas is still the only team Ferrari has good ties with in that area, but with Mick Schumacher it already has the permanent spot there. From 2023, Ferrari reportedly no longer has that option to occupy that spot with a Ferrari junior and Schumacher seems to be losing his spot. With Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg, the American racetrack has experienced options that could occupy the seat.

While Mattia Binotto shouts that Shwartzman deserves a chance in Formula 1, he does not quite show it in his actions. Indeed, Ferrari is shifting Antonio Giovinazzi towards Haas to test in Italy and America, with the team hoping to earn the Italian a spot for 2023. Shwartzman will not get that chance at Haas (yet).

Haas does know what it has to gain from Shwartzman. In 2020, the Russian was due to make his debut during free practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but the test fell through at the last minute. In 2021, Shwartzman did take part in the closing test in Abu Dhabi after the last Grand Prix. Then he drove for Ferrari and Haas.

Ferrari does give the Israeli a free practice in the Ferrari, but in it he may find it harder to show himself to a team looking for a new driver. Giovinazzi seems to be higher up the pecking order at Ferrari in that respect, as Schumacher was earlier when Shwartzman was fighting for his spot in Formula 2.

In that respect, Shwartzman ultimately just did not show enough when it mattered. A fourth and a second place in F2 is enough for some for a spot in Formula 1, but with Schumacher he had someone ahead of him who performed just a bit better in the same car and for the same training. The choice was therefore easy. The fact that Ferrari is now also putting more focus on Giovinazzi and not Shwartzman also shows which of the two is preferred. Thus, the Russian does not seem to have a real chance at F1.