The Formula 2 season is entering a decisive stage. There are two double stages and six races ahead. This coming weekend, teams will travel to Saudi Arabia for the first time to compete. “MK-sport,” tells what to expect from our compatriot in the coming weekend.
Two stages before the end of the season, Russian racer Robert Shwartzman is in third place in the overall standings, 43 points behind the leader Oscar Piastri (178 versus 135). The second position in the standings is occupied by Guanyu Zhou with 142 points.
Both competitors of the Russian have already solved their main tasks for the season – secured participation in Formula 1 next year: Piastri became a reserve pilot for Alpin, and Zhou will become a combat racer in Alfa Romeo. Robert’s future has not yet been determined, so it is incredibly important to show the best results at the end of the season.
The current year has become for the Russian in many respects a continuation of the previous one. Robert has one of the best, if not the best, racing speed in the peloton. Schwarzman regularly demonstrates an impressive pace and spends a lot of overtaking. But all are spoiled by weak qualifications.
The Russian has yet to win the fastest session this season. Not only are they given 4 credit points for winning it, but also a start from the middle, or even the end of the peloton, is a verdict. Formula 2 pilots cannot flash the peloton, as Hamilton did in Brazil, because they all have the same cars, the only difference is in the settings.
Therefore, Robert regularly gets stuck behind rivals and has to spend time overtaking. A long pursuit of an opponent usually overheats the motor and destroys the tires. So high qualification results are practically the key to a successful performance.
This is what the Russian himself thinks about his performances: “ The main difficulties I face are in the qualifications. I don’t want to sound like an excuse, but there are reasons why I cannot really adapt to the Formula 2 car and fully demonstrate my talent and speed. I make small mistakes that lead to wasted time on a fast lap and not too high starting position. Then I have to fight my way through the whole peloton. The team is trying to help me so that my qualifying performance finally improves . “
In the coming weekend, the races will take place on the track in Saudi Arabia. Pilots will have one training session, a qualifying session (4 points for a win) and three races. There will be two short races on Saturday with 15 points to win, and a long Sunday race with full points – a maximum of 25 for a win. Plus 2 more points for the best lap in each race. In total, a pilot can get a maximum of 65 points.
Of course, not a single pilot this season has collected such a jackpot, but, for example, the same Robert scored 36 points over the weekend, and Piastri and Zhou – 41 points each. So anything is possible.
Robert has been working with engineers for a long time on minor flaws in piloting the car, plus the Russian really needs strong results. It is already known that Schwartzman will not continue to compete in Formula 2 next year, so now is the time to show off the product.
Moreover, our compatriot is a student of the Ferrari youth academy. The better Schwartzman finishes the season, the higher the opinion of the “red” bosses will be. So far, Shvartsman was called only to the traditional winter tests as part of “Haas”. But if you take the Formula 2 title, who knows, maybe they will be called in as a reserve pilot for next year. And there it is not far from the combat in 2023. Everything is in the hands of Robert.
