Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman set to share Ferrari reserve driver duties in 2023

Antonio Giovinazzi is set to serve as Ferrari's reserve driver for the seventh season in a row. He will be joined by Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzman.

Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman set to share Ferrari reserve driver duties in 2023

Antonio Giovinazzi (L) | Robert Shwartzman (R)

Alfa Romeo (Sauber)’s lineup was completely revamped at the advent of the new Formula 1 regulations in 2022. Kimi Raikkonen retired, while Antonio Giovinazzi was shown the exit door. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were brought in as replacements. Giovinazzi has been Ferrari’s reserve every year since 2017, and he found a home there again, sharing duties with Mick Schumacher.

He simultaneously competed in Formula E with Penske, where he did not score any points at all and finished 23rd. In all fairness to him, his teammate, Sergio Sette Camara, only scored 2 points as well. He also crashed in one of the FP1 sessions with Haas [he additionally served as the reserve for Alfa Romeo and Haas as well]. While it was just a practice session, it’s clearly not ideal if he hopes to return to Formula 1.

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This year, he will switch to endurance racing and will be part of Ferrari’s WEC (Hypercar) lineup. In addition to that, according to a report by the Italian arm of Motorsport.com, he will also serve as the F1 team’s reserve driver for the seventh season running. However, his partner will change. Giovinazzi had shared duties as reserve driver with Mick Schumacher for two seasons running. The German has now moved to Mercedes, where he will serve in the same capacity [as reserve driver]. Instead, he’ll share duties with Robert Shwartzman, who served as Ferrari’s test driver last season.

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Forecast for Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Shwartzman’s 2023

Robert Shwartzman
Robert Shwartzman

While Antonio Giovinazzi will serve as Ferrari’s reserve driver in 2023, it’s rather obvious that his focus will be on the WEC – where he probably has a much better chance to see some action. As a reserve driver, unless either one of Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz are unavailable, he will at a maximum drive in a practice session. On the other hand, he will definitely race a lot more as part of a three-driver lineup in the WEC.

Generally, the same will be true for Robert Shwartzman. However, both drivers are clearly in very different stages of their career. F1 is clearly the goal for both of them – but Shwartzman is much younger. It looks unlikely he will permanently replace either Ferrari driver for now, but good practice session performances may help him find a seat elsewhere.

Shwartzman, who finished second in Formula 2 in 2021, recently tested an IndyCar with Chip Ganassi. Last season, he took part in two practice sessions with Ferrari. He also tested the 2021 car and participated in the post-season Abu Dhabi test. All of this is very significant mileage and a small boost to him in the pursuit of his F1 dreams.

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