Ferrari-backed Robert Shwartzman says he is almost certain he will compete in Formula 2 in 2020, having been crowned as the inaugural FIA Formula 3 Champion in Russia.
Shwartzman, 20, finished third in last year’s European Formula 3 standings and this year made the move across to the new-for-2019 Formula 3 category, which in effect replaced the GP3 Series.
Shwartzman claimed three victories and finished the season with a 54-point advantage over fellow Ferrari protégé and Prema team-mate Marcus Armstrong.
“I think the biggest chance, like 99%, is that I’m going to go to Formula 2,” he said.
“I’m really excited about that, but I don’t know with which team yet. I have no idea at the moment.
“Anyway, my target will be to deliver my best like this year. I have liked to work with Prema. They are talented guys. I have a good relationship with them, but you never know.
“I just hope for a good car and a good team and I’ll do my best like this year, to try and be in the same position next year.”
On his title-winning campaign in the tertiary category, Shwartzman said: “I didn’t really feel like I was one of the favourites during the pre-season.
“We’re all very competitive so it was a question mark who was going to be really strong, or less strong. I didn’t really pay attention to that.
“My job and my thoughts were just to fight every race weekend and deliver the best results possible.
“So through the whole year, I had nice fights, I made also a few mistakes. I ended up with one DNF unfortunately. You know, it’s sort of a lesson for me. Now that we’ve ended here, it’s just great. At the beginning, I was only dreaming about it, but I didn’t think we could end up here.”
