Israeli driver makes debut on INDYCAR series

As the Indycar season begins this weekend in Florida, history will be made as Robert Shwartzman will become the first Israeli driver to take to the track.

At a Jan. 10 event in Charlotte, PREMA Racing announced it would join the NYY INDYCAR Series, introducing Shwartzman and former rival and INDYCAR veteran Callum Illot as their two drivers.

The series begins on March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, at 11 a.m. Central on FOX. Future dates in the region include the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham on May 4 at 12:30 p.m., and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at the Nashville Superspeedway on Aug. 31 at 1:30 p.m.

If Shwartzman qualifies for the Indy 500, he would be the first Jewish driver to compete in the prestigious race since Mauri Rose won there for the third time in 1948, the year Israel was re-established.

Shwartzman was born in Tel Aviv, but when he was 4, his family moved to St. Petersburg, Russia. His father started him on kart racing at age 4, and then two years later they moved to Italy to continue his karting career. He won numerous titles around Europe, then at age 14 started single-seat racing in the F4 Series, moving up the levels and zooming up the standings.

In 2017 he joined the Ferrari Driver Academy and began racing for PREMA that December.

He won the FIA F3 Championship in 2019, and finished second in the FIA F2 Championship in 2021 before being signed by Scuderia Ferrari in F1 where he served as their test and reserve driver from 2022 to 2024.

For years, Shwartzman had been driving under a Russian license. In 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile barred drivers from competing under a Russian flag. While most went with a neutral flag, Shwartzman reclassified as an Israeli.

When PREMA decided to field their first INDYCAR team in America, they selected Shwartzman, given his experience in F1 and Endurance racing. In 2024, he won the Lone Star Le Mans event in Austin, Tex., as part of the World Endurance Championships.

Some are already speculating he will be a candidate for Rookie of the Year honors this coming season, which would not be his first — in 2018 he was the European Formula 3 Rookie champion.

“I just want to win races and raise the Israeli flag, to show that Israel is still here, and to inspire everyone by the resilience of the Jewish people” said Shwartzman. “I look forward to meeting new friends at the races across the United States and hopefully introduce INDYCAR to new fans all over the world.”

All of the Series’ races will be broadcast on network television.

In preliminary qualifying on the street course at St. Pete on March 1, Shwartzman outpaced several veterans despite spending a lot of time on pit lane due to radio issues. He also noted that the tires are different than what he is used to, as well as the qualifying procedure. Driving the No. 83 Chevy, he placed 18th, a wild coincidence for an Israeli driver, since 18 symbolizes “life” in Hebrew. His teammate, Ilott, will start 27th, the last position.

Update (March 3): Shwartzman finished 20th out of 27, just behind his teammate and 1:02.375 behind the winner. Four cars did not finish the race due to wrecks.

Updated March 1 with qualifying results.