Who is PREMA’s new driver Robert Shwartzman? 5 things you need to know about the Ferrari F1 junior

Former Ferrari Academy driver Robert Shwartzman is set to debut in the US-based IndyCar Series in the 2025 season. The Tel Aviv-born racer will rejoin the PREMA Racing family with British driver Callum Ilott as his teammate.

Much like many budding racers, Shwartzman began his racing career with karting. After winning several accolades in the European karting scene, he progressed to the junior Formula division (F4) in Italy. Gaining experience, Shwartzman won multiple titles over the years before joining the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2017.

The 25-year-old won the 2019 Formula 3 Championship with PREMA Racing before joining the iconic Scarlet Red team as a reserve driver in 2022. After spending three seasons as a reserve driver, Shwartzman is now set to take the next step in open-wheel racing by joining PREMA Racing for the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series.

"I’m definitely very, very excited to be back at PREMA to start a new adventure in INDYCAR. Everything will be new to us and there will be many challenges, but it will also be a lot of fun and a lot of work at the same time. I think a very successful future lies ahead for us. INDYCAR is a very competitive series with so many strong drivers, and I’m looking forward to the racing, as it looks really cool," Robert Shwartzman said as part of the announcement.

"I have never driven on ovals and to master them, it will be a completely new challenge. However, with PREMA we achieved a lot in the past, and I think that my F1 and endurance experience will be helpful to make us evolve fast and get up to speed quickly," he added.

Here are five things you need to know about Ferrari F1 junior before he starts his IndyCar journey.

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#5. Robert Shwartzman drove for Kick Sauber F1 at Zandvoort in 2024

Robert Shwartzman kicked off the second half of the 2024 F1 season by driving Valtteri Bottas' race car at Zandvoort. He participated in the Free Practice 1 (FP1) session in place of the Finnish racer.

Although he was rumored to be in contention to join the team in 2025, Shwartzman will now join PREMA in the IndyCar Series.

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#4. Shwartzman was handed a five-place grid penalty for FP1 incident during Mexican Grand Prix

In an unusual moment in F1, Robert Shwartzman was handed a five-place grid penalty for his FP1 incident during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend. What makes it unusual is the fact that he was not scheduled to race in the Grand Prix.

Driving in place of Zhou Guanyu in FP1, Shwartzman overtook Yuki Tsunoda under the yellow flag. He was summoned by the stewards after the session, who deemed him in breach of Appendix H, Article 2.5.5 b, handing him a five-place grid penalty.

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#3. He aced the IndyCar testing at Sebring in 2023

Robert Shwartzman had topped the charts during the first private IndyCar testing of the 2023 season. Handled by Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, and Team Penske, the test was conducted between Shwartzman, Sting Ray Robb, Kyffin Simpson, and Dane Cameron.

Driving for CGR, the 25-year-old racer set a lap time of 52.539s on the short course at Sebring International Raceway.

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#2. Shwartzman won a race in the GT World Challenge Europe series in 2023

Apart from being a reserve driver for Ferrari, Shwartzman also competed in the GT World Challenge Europe series with the AF Corse Ferrari hypercars. Along with teammates Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye, he won the endurance race at Austin in the 2023 season.

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#1. He acted as a test driver for DS Penske Formula E team

Apart from being a reserve driver for Ferrari from 2022 to 2024, Robert Shwartzman also served as a test driver for the US-based DS Penske Formula E team. Although he did not attend any race, he played a crucial role with the team in the background.