Of all the unanswered questions heading into IndyCar’s
2025 season, the incoming PREMA Racing team is perhaps at the center of most
uncertainties — but today, the team closed one of its primary open ends by
signing Robert Shwartzman to partner with Callum Ilott next year.
Though Shwartzman has been a regular feature in the
Formula 1 ladder program, he’s found himself on the outside of the sport
looking in — making IndyCar a great fit for a driver keen to get back into
active competition.
Robert Shwartzman joins PREMA IndyCar outfit
When PREMA Racing announced its intention to join IndyCar
in 2025 as a two-car operation, it kicked off ample speculation about who would
comprise its driver line-up. Would the team choose to sign drivers it worked
with in other race series, or would it opt for racers more experienced in the
real of IndyCar?
Today, PREMA has shown that it will satisfy both of those
concerns.
Former Formula 1 hopeful Robert Shwarzman has been
announced as the second driver in the two-car team. The Israel-born and
Russia-raised driver has been a regular PREMA driver in Formula 3 and Formula
2, but he’s most recently joined Ferrari as its F1 test driver.
However, Shwarzman hasn’t exactly found the path to F1
easy. He was passed over once again this season as Ferrari and the teams to
which it supplies power trains shuffled lineups. With no clear path to Formula
1 in sight, a move to IndyCar made sense.
“I think I chose IndyCar for two main reasons,”
Shwartzman said, as reported by RACER.
“One is a team that I have won with, I know and really
trust. The second is a series that has the best racing at the moment.
“I like proper racing and I want to enjoy it. Obviously,
the ovals will be the biggest challenge. I’ve never driven there. I just know
that it’s super fast and really interesting.
“I believe that if we do a good job in terms of the team
and car preparation, we’re going to be very strong on all the other tracks and
will be quick learners on the ovals.
“For that reason, having people with different
backgrounds is definitely a good thing. At the same time, it’s very important
to have people with American racing expertise.”
Shwartzman will join PREMA alongside Callum Ilott, the
latter of whom also hoped to join Formula 1 before eventually making a move to
IndyCar when it was clear there were no available seats.
It also further enhances a growing trend of former Formula 2
and 3 drivers choosing IndyCar as the next step in their career path. In 2025,
Shwartzman and Ilott will join Christian Lundgaard, Marcus Armstrong, Santino
Ferrucci, and Felix Rosenqvist in the ranks of former junior formulae talents
who eventually swapped over to IndyCar for any number of reasons.
There’s no doubt that F1 represents the pinnacle of international open-wheel racing, but with only 20 seats on offer and prior experience at a premium, many young drivers who dedicated their early careers to the F1 pathway are discovering that there simply isn’t room for them at the top.
.webp)
