Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies revealed that they will give their reserve driver Robert Shwartzman two rookie FP1 outings this season.
F1 teams are obliged to give rookie drivers at least two free practice session slots this year. Ferrari are yet to do it but they are planning to give the slots to Shwartzman. The 22-year-old has an Israeli license which allows him to avoid the FIA’s ban on Russian-licensed drivers.
“For us, it’s Robert Shwartzman that will do our two FP1s,” Mekies said.
“We haven’t exactly decided on which events it’s going to be, [but] you are right in saying that you would not pick races like Singapore or races where the race drivers need more running.
“I don’t think we have an issue in doing it during one of the weekends where we have Pirelli testing.”
At the same time, AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost stated that Liam Lawson will be behind the wheel of one of their cars at the Belgian GP FP1.
