When PREMA Racing announced its intentions to join
IndyCar for the 2025 season, pundits speculated that the team could go one of
two ways: It could stay true to its international formula racing roots by
bringing European talent to IndyCar, or it could sign seasoned IndyCar veterans
to get off the ground.
Though the team has managed to do a bit of both, the fact
that both of PREMA Racing’s drivers for the 2025 IndyCar season are PREMA
alumni shows that the team is singlehandedly bridging the chasm between
American and international open-wheel racing.
PREMA carves a new path for the Formula 1 junior ladder
In the world of open-wheel motorsport, there is no better
proving ground than the Formula 1 junior ladder system.
Situated primarily in Europe, that ladder program
features multitudes of regional open-wheel series with packed schedules and
easy access to testing days at any one of the various local race tracks. The
best talents from around the world flock to Europe to compete, as Formula 1
teams vie to sign the best of the best to its young driver development
programs.
A similar system doesn’t exist in America — at least not
for open-wheel racing. A young driver in Europe can take his pick of a
multitude of regional Formula 4 championships before progressing to regional
Formula 3 series, before finally committing to international F3 and Formula 2.
In America, you can opt for one of the regional Formula 4
series, or you can enter the IndyCar feeder program, the latter of which
consists of a mere handful of events. But on the way up through the IndyCar
ladder, you have a single path to the top. In European junior categories, you
have far more options to choose from.
While the European open-wheel ladder system is responsible
for creating some incredible talent, it does come with one primary flaw: There
are only 20 Formula 1 seats in any given year compared to the reams of young
drivers battling for a seat — and many potential F1 seats are already ‘filled’
by one of that team’s development drivers.
The result? Plenty of talented young drivers turn away from
open-wheel racing in hopes of furthering their careers.
Not every F1 season will be like 2025, where Kimi Antonelli,
Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan, and Gabriel Bortoleto will all graduate to the
upper ranks of racing. Instead, talented drivers like Antonio Felix da Costa,
Robin Frijns, Sam Bird, Mitch Evans, Felipe Drugovich, and so many more are
left to hunt for something else.
PREMA Racing is now giving them an option to move to IndyCar.
