PREMA racing's Callum Ilott sets a definite timeline for them to get their "ducks in a row" in IndyCar

PREMA Racing's experienced IndyCar driver, Callum Ilott, has set a timeline for when the team will get its operations to be more competitive. The renowned Italian team made its IndyCar debut at the 2025 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and as expected, their performance wasn't good enough to warrant a place in the Top 10 yet.

Ilott secured P19 and rookie teammate Robert Shwartzman finished one place behind him, in P20. During the weekend, both former Ferrari development drivers spoke with reporter Bruce Martin on the Pit Pass Indy podcast. Callum Ilott, who has four years of IndyCar racing behind him, (two full-time seasons with Juncos Hollinger Racing and two part-time seasons) explained how PREMA Racing should be more competitive by the 109th Indy 500 on May 25.

"I think once we get all our ducks in a row, we'll be strong," the British driver said [37:46 onwards]. "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."

Ilott also spoke about PREMA Racing's rich history in the junior European Formula circuit, adding:

"PREMA has won in every junior single-seater championship they've competed in, and I think hopefully, bringing that to the US in probably the most competitive series they've been in, it's gonna take a little bit of time, but I'm sure we can do it."

PREMA has won a title in nearly every championship they've competed in. It is considered the best team in the F1 feeder series, with its 2024 F2 drivers Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli getting promoted to F1 in 2025.

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Callum Ilott's blunt judgment on PREMA Racing's "messy" qualifying at St. Petersburg

PREMA Racing at the INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Day 1 - Source: Getty

PREMA Racing had a disappointing outing at its first IndyCar qualifying session during the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend. While Robert Shwartzman secured P18 on the grid, Callum Ilott placed dead last in P27.

After the session, he explained how his No. 90 team struggled to get the tires in the right window among other challenges.

"It was not a solid qualifying," he said via RACER. "We need to look into it quite a bit. We just couldn’t get the tires to work and couldn’t put anything together. I think if we were able to add something, we would be a little bit closer. I think it was just a messy session and everything you want to not happen happened. We can make some changes for tomorrow, and at least we can only go forward."

The build-up to the qualifying was no good as well. Shwartzman suffered radio issues, which prevented him from participating for the entire duration of practice session 2 on Saturday morning.