With Binotto, can Shwartzman have a future in F1 at Audi?

Since the announcement of Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber/Audi in 2025, rumors are circulating about his potential teammate on the Ingolstadt (Germany) brand side. Valtteri Bottas to Alex Palou, including among others Theo Pourchaire, many are the names that have been associated with the arrival of the brand with the rings in Formula 1.

Recently, the surprise presence of Robert Shwartzman in the C44's cockpit during Free Practice 1 put a piece in the machine. The Israeli, reserve driver of the Team Ferrari in Formula 1 and representative of the Prancing Horse in the World ChampionshipEndurance FIA driver in the AF Corse 499P No. 83, could he also be in the running for a regular place with the German manufacturer in the future?

The recent arrival of Mattia Binotto, Scuderia team principal from 2019 to 2022, at the head of the Audi F1 program could go in this direction, the two men knowing each other well from the years spent at Maranello by the man from Lausanne (Switzerland). Enough to allow Shwartzman to dream of Formula 1?

« I respect Mattia a lot, Robert Shwartzman answered us when we asked him the question in Austin on the occasion of Lone Star Le Mans, sixth round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship calendar. I worked with him for four or five years. »

« Laurent (Mekies) and him helped me a lot at the Ferrari Driver Academy, Shwartzman continues. They allowed me to achieve the results I achieved. They supported me, they pushed me and they really took care of me. »

Despite his departure from Maranello, the links between the driver and Binotto are not strained " Obviously, both of them are no longer part of Ferrari, but I still have good relations with them, Shwartzman confirms. Again, there is a lot of respect from my side. »

After Zandvoort, a track where he was driving for the second time after 2023 with Ferrari, will Shwartzman have the opportunity to drive in Free Practice 1 again this season?

« As for Free Practice and the rest I have no idea, we haven't even discussed it, replied the person concerned. Mattia has only just started his job. I don’t know how it works there either, who is in charge of what. I just got an invitation from them, which I really appreciate, to do the Free Practice. We had a great time. I met a lot of new people from Sauber, very nice people. I really enjoyed working, driving and being there. It was really fun. From my side, if in the future Mattia or whoever is in charge of Sauber wants to do something with me, I will be very happy. »

While waiting for a possible opportunity, Shwartzman will race this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas) for the sixth round of the 2024 season of the WEC. A circuit that has a particular value in his eyes since it is here that he drove for the first time during a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend in 2022. He drove in Free Practice 1 with… Ferrari, the brand he currently represents in Endurance.

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