Boris Rotenberg Discusses Conversation with Schwartzman About Competing Under Israeli Flag

The president of the Russian Automobile Federation (RAF), Boris Rotenberg, shared his thoughts about the Russian-Israeli driver Robert Schwartzman, who is currently competing in IndyCar.

«Are you keeping an eye on Robert Schwartzman? He recently made a remarkable appearance at the Indy 500,» the reporter asked.

«Absolutely, I follow his progress. However, he hasn’t yet reached the levels we hoped for. The last thing I did for him was facilitating his role as a test driver for Ferrari, where he performed quite well. Now he’s moved to IndyCar with Prema, and he has secured a pole position once. It’s a very challenging environment; my friend Mikhail Alyoshin competed there, and it was a serious test. I sincerely hope he succeeds.

He came to me saying, ‘I want to change my passport.’ I told him, ‘Listen, that is your decision. But we invested so much in you to make you a Russian driver.’ Although now it says ‘Israeli and Russian driver’ in the media. A significant amount of resources was put into his development; he was among the most promising drivers who were close to Formula 1,» Rotenberg remarked in an interview with Championship correspondent Alexander Yershov.