F1 hopeful Robert Shwartzman joins IndyCar’s incoming PREMA team

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.”

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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.

IndyCar has emerged as a viable series in which to continue evolving as an open-wheel driver. Though many critics will argue that IndyCar is not on the same level of prestige or technological innovation as F1, the American series does provide a deeply competitive environment where drivers of all stripes can thrive.

PREMA’s decision to sign two former F1 hopefuls also suggests that the team is creating its own alternate motorsport pathway. While the Italian outfit has largely focused on junior single-seater categories on the road to F1, the decision to create an IndyCar team creates a new route to success for many young drivers.

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