No explanation has been provided by Charouz regarding the driver change but Simmons was also absent from last week’s in-season test at Barcelona, where Schumacher was first called in as his replacement.
Simmons, who finished second in last year’s British F3 series, endured a torrid start to his first full campaign in FIA F3 last month, finishing 18th and 19th across the two races in Bahrain.
His replacement for Imola, Schumacher, previously drove for Charouz during the 2020 F3 season but failed to rack up a single point amid a difficult season for the Czech Republic team.
Schumacher, son of former Formula 1 driver Ralf, enjoyed much better fortunes following his move to Trident in 2021 but had quit single-seaters altogether this year in favour of a move to the DTM with Mercedes.
Charouz’s Formula 2 team will also undergo a driver change this weekend with David Beckmann stepping in for Turkish racer Cem Bolukbasi who is not yet fit to race in Imola after suffering a broken rib in a major crash in Jeddah last month. Beckmann spent the first half of 2021 in F2 driving for Charouz before moving to Campos for two rounds.
Elsewhere in F3, Juan Manual Correa will sit out the Imola weekend after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot and receiving advice from doctors to rest at home. The 22-year-old will not be replaced this weekend, meaning ART will run only two cars for Mercedes junior Frederic Vesti and Alexander Smolyar.
Finally, it was announced that Federico Malvestiti will join Ido Cohen and William Alatalo in Jenzer's F3 line-up for the remainder of the season, taking the place vacated by ex-Red Bull F1 junior Niko Kari in the team’s line-up.
The second round of the 2022 F3 season takes place on the undercard of the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with Alpine protege Victor Martins leading the championship by one point over Prema’s Arthur Leclerc following his victory in the second of the two races in Bahrain.
