Robert Shwartzman shuts down IndyCar “unhappy” talk: “The truth is the complete opposite”
Let’s put this one to bed. Robert Shwartzman is not pining for a different paddock, a different continent, or a different series. The Prema rookie took to X to swat away whispers that he’s fallen out of love with IndyCar life — and he didn’t mince words.
“I keep seeing comments suggesting that I’m unhappy in IndyCar,” he wrote. “Let me be absolutely clear: I have never said that, and I’ve never even thought it… The truth is the complete opposite! I am very happy to be racing in IndyCar. I love the series, the competition, the atmosphere, the variety of the circuits.”
If the Israeli-Russian sounded a touch irritated, it’s because the rumour stung. He called it “damaging and frankly offensive,” before adding a reminder that any big statements about his career will come “from me first.”
It’s not hard to see why he’s protective of the narrative. Shwartzman’s first year in IndyCar was anything but a grind. He arrived with Prema — the old Formula 2 battleground reassembled on American soil — and promptly stuck it on pole for his first Indianapolis 500. That made him the first rookie since Teo Fabi in 1983 to top the grid for the 500, and he left the month of May with the traditional milk plus the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honour.
Across the season he banked 211 points, ending up just seven shy of team-mate and familiar foe Callum Ilott. For a driver switching worlds after years on Ferrari’s books, that’s an emphatic way to announce you’ve landed in the right place.
Shwartzman’s CV was never in doubt. He won the Formula 3 title in 2019, pushed the F2 championship to the wire in 2021 and then spent three seasons as a Ferrari test and reserve driver, slotting into various FP1s. He broadened that role with Sauber in 2024, taking part in FP1 at Zandvoort and Mexico City, before drawing a line under Maranello and crossing the Atlantic to start fresh with Prema. The IndyCar move ended his long Ferrari association — a conscious pivot, not a consolation prize.
What’s striking now is how quickly he sounds like an IndyCar lifer. In that X post he raved about “the fans, the paddock, the variety,” the whole mix-and-mash calendar that can swing from street fights to superspeedways in a couple of weeks. It tracks with his on-track comfort: fast out of the box on ovals, tidy on road courses, and rarely spooked by the series’ bruising restarts and relentless parity.
Rumours tend to fill the silence between seasons, especially when a fast former F1 reserve is involved and silly season in Europe never truly sleeps. But Shwartzman’s message was direct, and frankly, it matched the evidence. Rookie pole at Indy, Rookie of the Year, and a points tally that kept him glued to Ilott’s rear wing all year — none of that reads like a driver counting the days.
“So, please don’t believe everything you read when it isn’t coming directly from me,” he wrote. “If I have something to say about my career or how I feel, you’ll always hear it from me first.”
Consider the record corrected. Shwartzman came to IndyCar to race hard, learn fast and build something with Prema. On this form, and with this kind of clarity, he’s doing exactly that.
