Shwartzman and Fuoco passed the Abu Dhabi tests

12/16/2020 Italy

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Ferrari has completed the program that was planned in the Abu Dhabi tests. On the one hand, we witnessed the debut of Robert Shwartzman and on the other hand was the contact with the reality of Antonio Fuoco, driver of the Maranello simulator. The two finished the day adding a distance of four GP in the two SF1000 lined up at Yas Marina.

Shwartzman was on his first outing in an official Formula 1 session after testing as part of the FDA project # RoadToF1 on September 30, when the Russian, with Schumacher Ilott, took turns driving an SF71H on the track. Fiorano. .

The 21-year-old from St. Petersburg, aboard the 35th SF1000, gradually became familiar with the car, adding a total of 129 laps (the distance of more than two Grand Prix) on C4 and C5 compound tires. The best personal time was 1’38 ”157, obtained in the last hour in qualifying configuration and soft tires (C5), when the asphalt offered the best conditions to the drivers.

“I feel great, it’s great, it’s a dream come true! Do you know when as a child you look at the winning Ferrari and say “but when will the day come when I can drive that car”? It happened today and it was very good. I feel like this is just the beginning, this is the point where you understand that you have just started your work and you need to work hard and improve yourself, so I am happy that I finally took this step for my future. It is a nice feeling “.

“It was a busy day and now I am quite exhausted because I had a lot of new things to handle, a lot of information to assimilate and I did a lot of laps!
The back of my neck hurts a bit from braking, but other than that I feel great. “

“In terms of steering, driving this car is easier than the Formula 2 cars I’m used to, so I had no problem. Today I have done more laps than any of them and each one of them has been really fantastic ”.

Fuoco worked on the correlation with the simulator.

Antonio Fuoco, a former FDA alumnus and now an Academy Driver Trainer, as well as one of the Scuderia’s simulator specialists with the 32nd SF1000, engaged in a program aimed primarily at comparing the real and virtual car with the one that landed. so many laps in the course of 2020.

For Antonio it was the fourth real track test with the Scuderia after 2015 in Spielberg and 2016 and 2019 in Barcelona. In total 126 laps for him, the best of which in 1’37 “817 with C5 tires.

“Today has been a very positive day because we managed to complete the program covering 126 laps, more than two Grand Prix. Together with the team we have collected a large amount of data that we will be able to analyze and will be useful for next season ”.

“As I am a specialized simulator driver, from time to time it is extremely useful to be able to sit in the real car and regain confidence with the feel of the cockpit. We were also able to do specific work to verify the correlation between our instrument in Maranello and the SF1000 on the track. “

Finally, I cannot fail to mention the excitement I feel every time I am offered the opportunity to get into a Ferrari. As an Italian, I am very proud to have been a member of this family for eight years and I thank the team for choosing to bet on me this time as well ”.