The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, which began on February 24th, generated the enormous problem in the sports field of how to manage the presence – or not – of Russian athletes in international events. The question has not remained foreign to the world of motorsport as well. There are those who have been ‘preventively’ removed from their team, as happened in F1 to the now former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin, and those who, like Daniil Kvyat in the WEC, voluntarily gave up competing this season by not accepting the offer to race as a neutral driver. But among the prominent drivers of the Russian automotive movement there is also the young talent of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Robert Shwartzman.
Champion in F3 in 2019, Shwartzman finished fourth and second in the last two years in Formula 2, while this year he occupies the role of reserve driver at Ferrari. In theory, the 22-year-old former Prema standard bearer represents the first choice of the Maranello team in the role of ‘young driver’ to be deployed in at least two free practice sessions during the season. Obviously, however, in the last two months his nationality has become a problem. However, on a sporting level Shwartzman is only ‘partially’ Russian. Raised in St. Petersburg, the former F3 champion was in fact born in Israel and, as explained by the Maranello team principal Mattia Binottoruns with the license of that country.
As reported by the site MotorsportWeek.com, therefore, Ferrari has every intention of giving Shwartzman the chance to drive the F1-75 in official sessionswhen the opportunity arises. “He has an Israeli passport and, in terms of his license, he is not a Russian. He had deals with Russian companies, but let me tell you that he has broken all deals with those companies – explained Binotto – Robert is still our test driver and will remain so. If we have any opportunities to have him driven in the future, we will probably have him driven “he concluded.
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