At the beginning of November, Robert Schwartzman did an excellent job during tests in Bahrain, where he showed the best time of the day behind the wheel of the Ferrari 499P hypercar. This convinced the factory endurance racing team to include him in one of the three teams that will appear at the start of the World Championship in exactly 50 days.
The AF Corse crew that will drive the Ferrari #83 hypercar was announced today: Polish Formula 1 veteran Robert Kubica, Robert Schwartzman and Chinese driver Yifei Ye.
Robert already worked with the AF Corse team last year – he took part in the GT World Challenge Europe – Endurance Cup series and won the 3-hour race in Barcelona together with his teammates.
The team will work together on February 24 and 25 during the so-called “prologue” of the WEC season, which, like the first stage of the championship, will be held on the Qatar circuit in Losail.
Robert Kubica: “After winning the WEC LMP2 class last year, I am very happy to drive the AF Corse Ferrari 499P this season. I will share the car with Robert and Yifei, they are both very fast drivers, but very serious tests await us, because the composition of the championship participants is very strong.
We have everything we need to succeed, but we also need to be well prepared as we have very little experience driving the 499P hypercar. It won’t be easy for us, but it will be very interesting.
We will try to act wisely and do everything in our power. It will be most difficult at the beginning of the season, but we will try to make the most of our time on track to gain important experience. I am very happy to join AF Corse as I have seen the team achieve victories in various categories over the years.”
Robert Schwartzman: “I am very happy to make my WEC debut in the AF Corse Ferrari 499P with Robert and Yifei. We are confident that together with the team we can rise to the challenge and are optimistic about the results we want to achieve this year.
We have little time and a lot to learn, but I will do everything I can to adapt to the car and feel comfortable with the team as quickly as possible. I am confident that we will have a good season, I am very motivated and determined to fight for victory in the World Championship.
But there is one race I am especially looking forward to: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I have always dreamed of taking part in this race, so I will do everything I can to win and do my best.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
