Marco Matassa says Shwartzman’s ‘a beast’ in races

We all saw what Russian star Robert Shwartzman could do in his rookie year in FIA Formula 2. Marco Matassa, head of Ferrari’s Driver Academy says Shwartzman’s ‘a beast’ in race trim and has to be a title contender in 2021 with Prema.

Shwartzman came into the 2020 season as the 2019 Formula 3 champion and joined the grid as one of a handful of Ferrari juniors. He delivered on the hype and took a title charge deep into the season with four race wins, which more than any other driver on the grid.

While Schumacher and Ilott built up a lead to fight for the title it became clear that the Russian has the pace and craft to compete now. This would have given the Ferrari bosses something to think about in his development programme and thus pushed them to act now to give him time in Formula 1 machinery in the Ferrari post-season in Abu Dhabi.

Shwartzman will remain in Formula 2 in 2021 with Prema and will be the highest-placed driver from the 2020 championship to stay on.

“We didn’t learn anything about Shwartzman that we didn’t know already, he’s a beast in the races. He proved it last year in Formula 3, winning the title in his rookie season and confirmed it now in Formula 2. The start of his season was almost perfect. Then a few too many scoreless races put him out of contention for the title but he is still the driver with the most wins on four. He stays in F2 next year with Prema because he should do another year in the category and I expect him to be a frontrunner for the 2021 title.” said FDA chief Marco Matassa.

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