Earlier in 2020, Robert Shwartzman pulled off a blinding start to his Formula 2 campaign, leading the pack by quite a margin. And it certainly looked like the Ferrari academy driver could be in F1 by as early as 2021, but things, unfortunately, went downhill from midway that season.

The Russian fell drastically down the order and signed off his first F2 season in P4, behind Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott, and Yuki Tsunoda.

In his second campaign, Shwartzman is currently in P3, yet again competing for the title. Hence, one might wonder if this could be the season for the Prema Racing driver to snatch a seat in F1. But that hardly seems possible at the moment.

One seat remains vacant at Alfa Romeo. However, his F2 title rival, Guanyu Zhou, is leading the race to secure the drive next season alongside Valtteri Bottas. Hence, speaking about the so-close-yet-so-far scenarios in 2020 and 2021, Shwartzman revealed that he is in need of more track time in F2 in order to compete in F1.

What did Robert Shwartzman say?

As reported by Motorsport Week, the Russian reckoned that he is yet to reach the level of performance that has the capability to attract racing teams in F1.

“I think at this stage I don’t have enough results where I can say ‘look guys, I’m winning, I have a huge gap and why are you not talking about me’,” he said.

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“I think I still need to learn and improve myself in Formula 2, I have this second half to do that, so at this stage where I’m going to improve myself. Then, I will think a bit more about Formula 1.”

Ferrari junior optimistic about driving in F1 in the future

Although 2022 could well witness Shwartzman stay in F2, he is quite certain that his dream of landing a seat in F1 isn’t far either.

“Obviously the situation is a bit tight now in Formula 1 as there is only one seat left. But, anyway, I don’t think about it because there is still the future. There are still other years,” he said.

“My target is just to do the best in Formula 2, get the best results possible, get the championship and after that, we’ll see what’s going to happen.”

Shwartzman has been a consistent performer for Prema Racing since 2019. And even though he is still a bit far off from Oscar Piastri and Zhou in the title fight, the Russian is in the front seat to claim his first top-three finish in the F2 championship this season.

So, after what could be two decent seasons, can Shwartzman manage to secure an F2 title in 2022, which could open a path to Formula 1?

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