Joint Ferrari experience helps Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman spearhead PREMA Racing's IndyCar endeavor

PREMA Racing star Callum Ilott sat down with NTT IndyCar’s media team for an interview during the recent Indy 500 open test. The British driver opened up on his relationship with former F2 driver and teammate Robert Shwartzman as he detailed how the duo prepared for May, which holds the greatest spectacle in racing.

The newest IndyCar team, PREMA, debuted this year at the Grand Prix of St Petersburg and will take to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the team's first-ever Indy 500. The open test went relatively smoothly for the Italian team, with Ilott and Shwartzman not facing any major issues.

Callum Ilott, who’s previously worked with his teammate Shwartzman at the Ferrari academy, was questioned about how it's been to partner with the Russian-Israeli driver. The Briton replied,

“Yeah, it's good. I've known him for years, since karting and then at Ferrari when we were in the drive academy, we spent four years together. I never actually worked directly with him, but always around and yeah, it's been super easy so far and just pushing the team forward and working together.” (1:56 onwards)

Robert Shwartzman himself is a rookie and joined IndyCar for the 2025 season after serving as a Ferrari F1 reserve driver during the 2023 & 2024 seasons. As it would be the 25-year-old's first Indy 500, Callum Ilott, who raced in three Indy 500s, was asked whether he gave his teammate any advice. Ilott said,

“I've been at every oval test he's done with him as well, but I think he's just excited to experience the speed. I was saying, look, it's easy on your own, you get a good feeling for it, but as soon as you go out there, when everyone's out there, it's weird having 33 other cars on track with you.”

The two PREMA Racing drivers completed 405 laps at the two-day Indy 500 test held from April 23 to April 24. While neither Ilott nor Shwartzman set the timing sheets on fire, a clean session meant that the team ranked up the laps and the data to analyse before the big race.

Callum Ilott expects PREMA Racing to be steady by the Indy 500

PREMA is still a new team and is finding its feet in the American open-wheel racing series. Robert Shwartzman's car faced major issues at the Thermal Club IndyCar race, where it broke into flames. Callum on the Pit Pass Indy podcast detailed that by the Indy 500, the team would be able to lay the foundation and start building on it.

“I think once we get all our ducks in a row, we'll be strong. But at the moment, it's more of a building, see where we end up. I think around the (Indy) 500, maybe just after the 500, we should be going steady. So up until then, it's a bit unknown and we'll have to build on it,” said Ilott.

The Indy 500 takes place on Sunday, May 25, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with 34 entries confirmed so far.