Callum Ilott gets 100% real about PREMA Racing's 'catch-up game' in IndyCar

Callum Ilott's history with PREMA Racing goes back to the Briton's junior racing days, and with the Italian giant joining the IndyCar sphere, he was appointed to head the team. While the 26-year-old has been enjoying his revived IndyCar chapter, he shared an honest verdict on where PREMA stands in the pecking order as the team is playing catch-up to its rivals.

PREMA Racing is known for training junior drivers in the F1 ladder. Moreover, the team has a vast legacy owing to the Italian giant producing one champion every year since the team's inception.

With the European manufacturer aiming to expand its hunting ground, it joined the IndyCar grid this year with two reliable faces in the team's history: Robert Shwartzman and Callum Ilott. Though the team has not produced any stellar results, such performances were expected owing to its novice status.

The British PREMA driver went into detail on how the squad is playing catch-up at the moment in the IndyCar field, and said (via IndyCar):

"It's been tough we've been working super hard. It's not easy at all to start from scratch so I think PREMA have done an amazing job to to get to where we are. And we have to see for the [Indy] 500 how it all goes but we're prepared really well for this, but it's a bit of a catch-up game once you get in the season. It's so repetitive that you don't have time to really reflect and improve, you just have to keep working forward." (0:28 onwards)

On the other hand, PREMA Racing initially showcased impressive performance during pre-season testing but has struggled to ace its race weekends.

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How has Callum Ilott fared in the initial phase of the 2025 IndyCar season?

PREMA Racing's Callum Ilott at the INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

PREMA Racing's current struggles in the IndyCar field have translated into its drivers being unable to make a move towards the top end of the grid. This has presented a dire situation for the pair and has resulted in a different intra-team dynamic than what was expected.

Callum Ilott is the experienced driver within the team, but he has a lower average finishing position than his rookie teammate, Shwartzman. At Long Beach, where the team scored its season-best performance in 18th, the Briton trundled behind his Russian-Israeli teammate, and later revealed his disappointment from the race (via PREMA Racing):

"It was not a very eventful race, and we’ve had two fully green-flag races in a row now. From our side, it wasn't too bad... At the end of the day, we got the car home, but we have a lot of things that we need to look at on and off the track."

Callum Ilott sits 25th in the championship standings, five points behind Robert Shwartzman.