24h Le Mans
The FIA World Endurance Championship has a new participant: Robert Shwartzman. The 26-year-old joins Team Peugeot TotalEnergies as factory driver for the 2027 season, at the wheel of the Peugeot 9X8. A new turn in an already glittering career.
Robert Shwartzman joins the FIA WEC and will take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2027 under the Team Peugeot TotalEnergies banner. FIA Formula Two vice champion and ex-Formula 1 reserve driver, Shwartzman will be a full-time member of the French team. His new role marks a return to endurance racing, the discipline that saw him shine in 2024, when he won his first race at the wheel of a Hypercar.
Robert Shwartzman’s career is a succession of challenges. He began go-karting aged five and climbed the single-seater ladder step by step, winning the FIA Formula 3 championship in 2019. Two years, two wins and eight podium places later, he became FIA Formula 2 vice champion.
The result earned Israeli/Russian Schwarzman a seat as Formula 1 reserve driver. Then, in 2023, he turned to endurance racing, starting in the GT class. The switch turned heads. Invited to take part in the FIA WEC Rookie Test in Bahrain, Shwartzman was fastest overall.
A few months later, he confirmed his potential in top-class endurance racing, winning the 2024 Lone Star Le Mans at the wheel of the AF Corse #83 Ferrari 499P.
In 2025, Robert Shwartzman crossed the Atlantic to take on another monument of the motorsport world: the IndyCar Series. He made his mark by taking pole position at the emblematic Indianapolis 500, the first ever rookie to do so.
Shwartzman returns to the WEC following two seasons in America. This time, he will be part of the Team Peugeot TotalEnergies full-season campaign.
The new recruit will take part in several test sessions at the wheel of the Peugeot 9X8, performing the groundwork for the coming season 2027 in endurance.
“Endurance racing is something I’ve really missed over the past two seasons,” says Shwartzman. “From my very first discussions with the team, I felt genuinely welcomed and immediately part of the project, within a highly professional and ambitious environment. The 2027 programme is particularly exciting, and I can’t wait to contribute to this new chapter and help write the next stages of the story together.”
Emmanuel Esnault, Team Principal, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies, suggests the new hire was a logical choice: “His natural speed, adaptability and maturity make him an ideal fit for our project.”
So, roll on 2027. With a driver who has already tasted victory in the FIA WEC, and a team ready to shift up a gear in the Hypercar class, there’s a story waiting to be written. They will soon step into the limelight, but, in the meantime, there is work to be done behind the scenes, kilometres to clock up and adjustments to be made before taking the stage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
