Two Grands Prix in one day. Robert Shwartzman concluded the day of testing at Yas Marina with the eighth fastest time and 123 laps completed. The Ferrari tester completed a very intense work programme, without running into any unexpected events other than a red flag and a slower car which did not allow him to make the most of the two sets of C5 tires in the qualifying simulation.
“I was completing a good lap – explained Shwartzman – with the two best sectors ever, then I found Bearman in front in the third section and I lost load (the engineers estimated four tenths lost in T3). It was a good lap, honestly I don’t think it’s capable of taking the lead away from Ocon, but from second position. I’m a bit sorry… but we are in a test session, the time trial is not the team’s objective. The target was to understand the single-seater as much as possible, tomorrow I will be in Maranello in the simulator to report the impressions I had today on the track.”
Before the day of testing completed today, Shwartzman had already taken to the track last Friday in the FP1 session, not without concerns about his physical form. “After the weekend in Las Vegas I arrived in Abu Dhabi with a strong flu – explained Robert – at the beginning of the week I was in the hotel with a fever of thirty-nine, then I recovered for FP1 and I was happy to have made it. I still had a few days available before this test, but despite not being one hundred percent fit, everything went well. I’m happy, it was a long day, we tried race simulations, qualifying and did various setup tests.”
During the 2023 season Shwartzman took to the track with many different cars, an aspect that worried him a little on the eve of the resumption of Formula 1 activity. “Before the FP1 session in Zandvoort I had some doubts – he admitted – I didn’t know how long it would take me to put everything into focus considering that in the previous months I had been busy mainly with the GT programme. It wasn’t easy to throw yourself back into the fray behind the wheel of a Formula 1, but I have to say that it didn’t go badly. Here in Yas Marina I had some more certainties. The future? We’ll see, my goal is to be as ready as possible if the team needs my contribution. And from this perspective, every kilometer is precious for understanding more and more.”
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