Robert Shwartzman gives honest take on "aggressive" racing in IndyCar compared to his European experience

Former Ferrari F1 reserve driver Robert Shwartzman reflected on his IndyCar debut earlier this month. Shwartzman moved from F1 to IndyCar, signing for PREMA Racing.

Former Formula 2 prodigy and Ferrari Academy driver Robert Shwartzman made a big move away from European racing this session, joining the NTT IndyCar Series. The Israeli driver signed for his former F2 team PREMA Racing, a move that was announced in November last year.

Shwartzman, who had finished as the runner-up in the 2021 F2 season, had spent the last five seasons of his career as a test driver for Ferrari's F1 team. However, the 25-year-old made his IndyCar debut earlier this month, hitting the ground running at the Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

In a recent interview with IndyCar following the race, Shwartzman discussed the differences between IndyCar and European racing, particularly the aggressive nature of competition. He said:

"I think the main difference is obviously the track and the car. It's been a while since I raced in a city track, and it's quite aggressive, generally, the corners and the walls. Obviously for us it was the first time. For me, everything was new. Unfortunately we also got compromised in the race with the running time and free practice because we had a radio issue, so I barely did any laps." (2:43)

He added:

"So it was basically jumping in the qualifying, like, all in, just going there, and yeah also the race, we had an issue with the radio, issue with the car because we got hit in lap one, they broke the diffuser, and the car was losing quite a lot of air."

Shwartmzman competes in the series alongside his teammate Callum Illot.

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Robert Shwartzman optimistic of the season ahead despite bumpy start to IndyCar career

Despite his enthusiasm, Robert Shwartzman could not achieve desirable results from his maiden IndyCar outing in St Petersburg. The Israeli driver secured a 20th-place finish out of the 27 drivers on the grid, and struggled with tire degradation issues that marred the entire race for many cars.

However, despite the complications, Shwartzman remains optimistic of his chances this year as the season progresses. In the same interview, the 25-year-old driver added:

"We had some complications, let's call it this way. But overall, I had quite a good fun, honestly. It was a lot of battles. The start especially was hectic, I was like 'what's going on?' It was really like, aggressive. And I like the battling between the drivers, it's quite aggressive. It's interesting." (3:17)

"Overall I have good impressions from the first race, even though the results were not really there. But I think that if we're going to work hard and if we can improve the car, things are going to change and we're going to be battling up there," he added.

Robert Shwartzman is currently ranked 20th in the IndyCar Series points standings with 10 points to his name. He is 41 points short of the race winner and defending champion Alex Palou.