Ahead of his IndyCar debut, Robert Shwartzman spoke exclusively to Fastest Formula News about his expectations for the season ahead.
Robert Shwartzman’s career trajectory has taken an unexpected yet fascinating turn. Once regarded as a rising star within Ferrari’s junior ranks—boasting a stellar resume that includes a Formula 3 title, multiple Formula 2 victories, and a runner-up finish—Shwartzman is now preparing for a fresh start in the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series. Any lingering aspirations for a Formula 1 seat appear to be firmly in the past. His journey to this point is a familiar tale in the world of Formula 1, where opportunities are scarce and timing is everything. Now, as Shwartzman reflects on his path, he is opening up about the turns that led him to this new challenge.
Hello IndyCar
The Russian-Israeli driver has reunited with Prema Racing, his former junior formula team, as they embark on an ambitious new venture in IndyCar. With their debut set for Charlotte, North Carolina, Prema—a team renowned for nurturing Formula 1 talent—is setting its sights high. With Shwartzman at the forefront, there is a quiet determination within the team to make a lasting impression.
Prema Racing, a dominant force in junior single-seater competition, officially announced its entry into IndyCar for the 2025 season on January 10th. The reveal, held at General Motors’ Charlotte Technical Center, was met with significant enthusiasm—and for good reason. Prema’s driver lineup consists of Robert Shwartzman and Callum Ilott, who will pilot the No. 90 and No. 83 Chevrolet-powered cars, respectively. For Shwartzman, this move marks a return to the team that played a pivotal role in his career, guiding him to the 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship and six Formula 2 victories.
Greeting us with a smile, Shwartzman first spoke to us about his emotions ahead of his debut in St. Petersburg next month.
He says his well-established history with Prema is a prime reason for his belief in the project. Prema’s debut as an entirely new team rather than buying an existing outfit requires total just in team and driver, which Shwartzman confirmed with ease.
An ‘exciting’ new opportunity
“I’m very excited. We already started testing and working together so we have already the process started and, generally like I said at the end of last year, with Prema I’ve done four years, we have won together, and I know the guys, I know the team and honestly like I don’t think there could be a better match for me to join a team, so obviously I am excited.”
After two decades on the European racing scene, the Prema driver revealed his excitement at racing in a new category. He spoke of his intrigue in racing in the ultra-competitive IndyCar Series.
“Plus the new series, new tracks, new car, there are a lot of things that are new which from my side also as a racing driver I like it quite a lot because after you know, 20 years being in Europe like you know, I’ve driven all the cars, all the categories that exist and yeah, like honestly, you always like experience live, so I was like you know, America is quite interesting”
Shwartzman also revealed how he plans to tackle oval racing, a trait of several circuits on the calendar, including the legendary Indy 500.
A rookie once more
Admitting that as a rookie, it will take time for him to adapt, he said learning with his team over the year will lead to the eventual target of race wins.
“I’ve never done ovals so that’s gonna be a new challenge for me, but plus again with Prema, with the people that I know, it feels better to join that series together, so I am very excited.”
“There is obviously a lot of work as well to do together because I’m a rookie, the team is a rookie so we both need to learn a lot of things, work a lot, work hard and which we’re doing.”
“So, again I want to believe that in the future, hopefully when we’re going to be very successful, and we’re going to be up there, it’s going to feel even better than just, join in and just drive on.”
“Everything is ready, everything is…but I don’t know how to explain it, like it is sort of a journey which we’re going to go together from zero, that’s what I want to say, that’s you know, so the victory should taste even better.”
Adapting to a new chapter
Shwartzman, although new to IndyCar, has experience with a single test back in 2023. When asked about his plans to acclimatise to a full-time seat in the series, he spoke of understanding the car’s behaviour, and his experience with the media and adapting quickly.
“It’s pretty good honestly, like I’ve done a bit of driving with the car, so car is pretty straightforward honestly, like I really like how the car is behaving, people from the series are very nice.”
“We’ve done also Media Day, pretty cool honestly, like with the fact that Fox has joined in, honestly it’s really, really interesting and you know, like the sets we’ve seen.”
“It was really, really crazy, like really, really, really cool stuff, so hopefully in the future you guys are going to witness it and have a look at it, and honestly, I’m a guy who generally gets really quickly like adapted to any kind of situation, so it doesn’t really take much time for me.”
“Therefore honestly, I’m already feeling quite well in US. Obviously, also for me, the US itself was new, I’ve never lived in US and you know, I just generally first time entered in US probably like two or three years ago.”
“I would say, that was also a bit of a change, but as I said for me, I’m quite quick to get used to stuff and when you also focus on work and the preparation, it also brings your mindset into a different a bit perspective.”
“It’s a bit easier to get used quicker, because when you’re with people, you know that they give you some hints, some tips and you use it for yourself as well.”
“So yeah, I must say I’m already feeling quite comfortable in that environment there.”
A new tyre, and using WEC experience
When asked about adapting to the Firestone tyres, a compound of tyre unique to IndyCar, Shwartzman revealed his already advanced knowledge.
He spoke of his growing confidence in understanding the tyres and how he plans to manage them during races.
“That’s obviously something to learn while we’re going to do races, because like at this stage we only have done two test days.”
“Plus again, those test days were more to get the team in together to see if the car is working well and everything, you know, all the mechanism are working in line, so it wasn’t really like a lot of tyre usage in that sense.”
“But from the feedback from other guys I’ve heard, it’s a bit easier to manage, it’s a bit, different type of tyre from what I’ve experienced in the past, but obviously we need to see how it works.”
“From my side, actually the Firestone tyres feels pretty good, like with the car when we went out I could feel the peak of the tyre pretty well when we put the new tyres and generally the deg, there is still some deg, obviously probably not as hard as the WRC1, but still, there is, so still you need to manage.”
“It’s not that you just go flat out every lap, but I think they’re a bit more under control and that’s a positive thing for me, that I want to believe that I can find a way to make them always consistent and to have sort of a good baseline for each race.”
‘Baggage of experience’ to assimilate knowledge
When asked about what his time in WEC can bring to Prema as it embarks on its inaugural season, Shwartzman spoke if his endurance skills.
Referring to what he called “The baggage of experience”, Shwartzman said he planned to used these skills and hybrid system knowledge to give him a head start in IndyCar.
“Generally I think every experience from any category that I’ve done is bringing, let’s say, its own baggage of experience, for sure from WEC.”
“The understanding of how long the races are and generally, how it works, because in Indy there are going to be quite long races, and when I did F2, F3 they were shorter.”
“So the positive thing about WEC is just, getting used to long stints, long types of races, quite high, you know, demanding races. I think that’s one of the WEC things that is bringing me in.”
“Obviously the experience of the WEC car, how it is as a car itself with the tools and stuff that you can play with around with the hybrid system, that also is a thing that we have in the Indy hybrid system now, that they’re also developing an Indy car for the future.”
“So, you know, these little things you still carry on as a baggage towards the Indy, so definitely there’s some useful things and experience that I’ve got from WEC that I’m carrying into Indy.”
New targets for Shwartzman
We asked Shwartzman for his targets ahead of the new season, he was bullish with his response.
Targeting wins, he did not put a timeline on wins, but said team development would be critical to reach this point.
He highlighted the ultra-competitive nature of the series, which can throw surprises at multiple rounds during the year.
“Obviously, as a driver, my target is always to win. I want to win, I believe we can do that, but at the same time I don’t want to put an expectation that we’re going to straight away dominate, or if we know it’s very difficult.”
“The series is extremely challenging, there is a very high level of competition. Personally, racing-wise, when I looked at the races, for me it’s the most competitive series ever in motorsport.”
“So, obviously, it’s not going to be an easy life, but I believe we can be winning, but I don’t want to have an expectation of we need to be P1 or anything.”
“For me, the target is to start wherever we start and just do better, to have always the progression, the improvement, the development, that’s my target and that’s my expectation for this year. I don’t know where we’re going to finish, but on that side I don’t really care.”
“Plus, again, we’re rookies, so I don’t really feel like we have much pressure. For me, we just need to use very cleverly the time we have very cleverly to get every second, every step in the right direction to develop the car, and then later on I think the result will come as an automatic thing.”
When asked if St. Petersburg would play to his and Prema’s strengths, Shwartzman said the city circuit was an ideal debut race, adding he enjoys their cut-throat nature.
What to expect in St. Petersburg
He highlighted the feedback to be gained before IndyCar’s switches to conventional race circuits.
“I think St. Petersburg is a good thing because it’s the first, let’s say, city track of the year.”
“It will definitely help us because later on, we will have more city tracks to have a bit of also like feedback on the car, how it behaves in those conditions, because we just drove the two open racetracks, the car felt pretty good, but we still need to figure out how it’s going to feel in the city courses.”
“So, I think it’s good. Plus, personally, I like city tracks, it doesn’t give any margin to error and stuff like that. So, yeah, honestly, I feel like it’s a positive start for the season with St. Petersburg.”
Feature Image Credit: Prema Racing
