Robert Shwartzman, a racer who was chewed up and spit out by the Formula 1 grinder, has found glory in America as the first rookie driver to win pole position for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race since Teo Fabi in 1983. Prior to this month neither Shwartzman nor his Prema team (itself new to the Indycar series as of 2025) had ever raced on an oval of any kind, and within a couple of tests they got the setup right, got some good luck, and found the speed to take the fight to the best that McLaren, Penske, and Ganassi could throw at them. Even the car that Schwartzman entered this month is without any form of major sponsorship, wearing the red/white/green of Prema’s Italian home flag, though now that he’s on pole surely a sponsorship deal is being worked out.
Over the weekend Shwartzman ran fast enough in three separate knock-out qualifying sessions to make it into the Firestone Fast Six and make his bid for the top spot. During Saturday’s qualifying session, which sets the grid for positions 13-30, Shwartzman put up a four-lap average speed of 232.584 miles per hour, good enough for sixth of the top twelve qualifiers, setting him up for another run on Sunday.
Sunday’s top twelve went out in the heat of the day and found the track slightly slower, but Shwartzman again moved on, setting the third fastest time of the session with a 232.008 mile per hour run, just behind Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and Meyer Shank’s Felix Rosenqvist.
How did that happen?
Facing off against other Fast Six competitors Takuma Sato, Álex Palou, and Scott Dixon, the deck was stacked against the Prema rookie. As the track cooled in the evening loaming, Shwartzman trimmed out his car as much as possible and held his breath for a wild ride, setting his fastest run right when he needed it, popping a 232.790 mile per hour run on the board, good enough for pole position and international acclaim for the week at least. Shwartzman will lead the field to green with two-time race winner Takuma Sato in the middle of the front row, and perennial Indy bridesmaid Pato O’Ward on the outside. It’ll take everything Shwartzman and Prema have to maintain the lead of the race beyond the first couple of laps with those aggressive hound dogs nipping at his heels.
Racing is a real crapshoot, and the Penske team looked the favorites to take pole position going in to the weekend. Unfortunately none of the team’s three-car lineup made it to the Fast Six session, knocked out in the top twelve shootout. Scott McLaughlin crashed his “yellow submarine” race car in Sunday’s pre-qualifying practice session, putting him out of the running. While lining up for their shots at Fast Six glory, both two-time defending race winner Josef Newgarden and Will Power had their machines pulled out of line for having illegally-modified components fitted. Surely Penske’s attempt at cheating directly contributed to Shwartzman’s pole, but hot damn is this rookie’s run a lot more exciting than a repeat of last-year’s Penske front-row lockout.
I can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday for the 109th running of the race.
Who is this kid?
You might know the Shwartzman name if you’ve been following the various Formula 1 feeder series for the last handful of years. He’s had top showings in various Formula 4 and Formula 3 regional championships before winning the FIA Formula 3 championship with Prema in 2019 and following it up with a runner-up place in FIA Formula 2 in 2021. He was then hired as a test and reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari F1 and DS Penske in Formula E while running in a Ferrari 499P hypercar in FIA WEC with AF Corse, even winning a round in 2024.
When Prema decided to join the Indycar championship to supplement its various international lower-formula efforts in F1 Academy, Formula 3, and Formula 2, it was a big step. We’ve all seen what happens when the big European teams jump into the deep end of the Indycar pool. McLaren’s first solo efforts were tantamount to disaster, and perennial Prema competitor Carlin went winless across four seasons in the sport before giving up. Thus far Prema’s efforts in Indycar have been lackluster with a season high finish of 18th (twice, last weekend at the Indianapolis road course, and in Long Beach), and the team didn’t look very confident going into the Indy qualifying weekend either. In practice session one, which took place on Tuesday, May 13 both of the Prema cars failed to crack 218 MPH over a single lap, and Shwartzman’s car only ran six laps the whole session, compared to other drivers who ran as many as 75. How they managed to find significant speed in just five days while being on the back foot in pre-event testing is anybody’s guess.
Shwartzman’s Prema teammate Callum Ilott will start next Sunday’s Indy 500 from 23rd on the grid.
