Former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi and Ferrari Academy driver Robert Shwartzman are set to share the reserve driver role at Ferrari for the upcoming season, following the Italians announcement of their World Endurance Championship Hypercar line-up.
Giovinazzi endured an odd 2022 campaign, following his departure from Alfa Romeo at the end of the 2021 season.
The Italian made the switch to Formula E with Dragon/Penske Autosport last year, where he performed woefully despite expectations of him having been high.
His debut season in the all-electric series was summed up at the season finale in Seoul, which he missed following a hand injury.
READ: Daniel Ricciardo fired warning about taking F1 sabbatical
To no surprise, Giovinazzi won’t be returning to the Formula E paddock in 2023 and was pushing incredibly hard to get a return to full-time F1 racing with Haas.
Giovinazzi even took part in two FP1 sessions for the Americans, as they assessed their options ahead of this year.
Crashing during FP1 at the United States Grand Prix ultimately ended Giovinazzi’s hopes of returning to F1; however, he has kept ties with Ferrari.
With that in mind, Giovinazzi was named as one of the drivers who’ll be competing in the WEC in 2023, as Ferrari make their Hypercar class debut.
According to Motorsport.com Italy, Giovinazzi will be Ferrari’s reserve driver in F1 this year when not competing in the WEC, with Shwartzman set to fill the role when the Italian is unavailable.
Based on this, Shwartzman will presumably be the Maranello-based team’s main reserve driver for 2023, given that five of the seven WEC rounds clash with a Grand Prix.
READ: Michael Andretti suggests it’s impossible to block their F1 entry
Shwartzman did, of course, drive for Ferrari during two FP1 sessions last season and completed the post-season young drivers test for the Italians, highlighting the trust and faith the team has in the Israeli-licenced driver.
After sitting out the bulk of 2022, due to switching his racing licence from Russian to Israeli, the Israeli-born driver is hoping to compete in a championship this year, with the driver having recently tested for Indycar outfit Chip Ganassi Racing at Sebring.
Whilst Shwartzman hasn’t confirmed yet what series he’ll be racing in for the upcoming season, Ferrari will be hoping that it doesn’t clash with a WEC round or a Grand Prix, with the team then presumably going to need a temporary third reserve driver to fill Giovinazzi’s and Shwartzman’s shared role.