Prema Racing is a crew that’s possible unfamiliar to US-only race followers. They arrived to the IndyCar grid forward of the 2025 season with a two-car effort and no charters. And but, they’re now on pole place for the largest oval race on your complete planet.
So who precisely is the crew behind rookie Indy 500 polesitter Robert Shwartzman? Properly, they could be new to ovals however they’re no strangers to open-wheel racing.
A legendary crew in junior classesÂ
Dennis Hauger, Prema Racing
Photograph by: Crimson Bull Content material Pool
Earlier than we actually get into it, let’s simply put their achievements into perspective for the uninitiated: Prema has over 40 driver championships, and simply as many crew championships, after competing in 30+ racing divisions since 1983. Over one-fourth of the present Method 1 grid have gained titles with Prema, together with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.
Simply taking a look at this yr’s Indy 500 starters, three of them have been topped with Prema up to now (Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong and Shwartzman). Present Indy NXT factors chief Dennis Hauger additionally gained the 2021 F3 title with Prema, and the profession paths of many different drivers have intersected with the wealthy historical past of this crew. Two of the three drivers from final yr’s 24 Hours of Le Mans successful driver lineup have raced for Prema up to now, and Antonio Fuoco earned his first notable single-seater title with them.
For you NASCAR followers on the market, it’s a bit like TRD and their driver improvement program, or for you IndyCar followers, they’re principally a a lot older model of HMD Motorsports.
So yeah, they’re in all places. Prema is an Italian crew that has been in operation since 1983, and as you’ll be able to see by the overview above, they’ve made fairly the identify for themselves in Europe and all over the world via numerous junior classes.
Prema first appeared in Italian F3, however it wasn’t lengthy earlier than they branched out into different divisions. And it was in Italian F3 the place they earned their first vital triumph, successful the 1990 championship with Roberto Colciago behind the wheel.
Accumulating trophies and constructing names
Polesitter Charles Leclerc, PREMA Racing, second place Antonio Fuoco, PREMA Racing
Photograph by: FIA Method 2
However because the world crossed into the twenty first century, that’s once they really started excelling as a company. As the brand new millennium acquired beneath means, they began to choose up a number of regional crowns, snagging titles in each the Eurocup and Italian Method Renault divisions.
Ryan Briscoe was one in every of their early champions and he at the moment works as a advisor for the crew as they embark on their first Indy 500. Briscoe, a profitable IndyCar driver who’s well-known by most US racing followers, earned Prema the inaugural Method 3 Euro Collection championship in 2003.
Kamui Kobayashi, an ex-F1 driver and sports activities automobile racing legend with general wins in each the Rolex 24 at Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans, earned his first main championship whereas driving for Prema.
And as Prema grew to become extra accustomed to the highest step of the rostrum, they expanded their efforts into numerous different junior divisions throughout Europe and even past. When the 2010s arrived, it grew to become tough to maintain up with all of their successes. Within the first half of the last decade alone, they captured ten drivers’ titles in 5 completely different sequence. They gained each single Method 3 European crew championship between 2013 and 2018, and as beforehand famous, they helped launch the careers of a number of future Method 1 drivers.
Success in F2 and F3
Oliver Bearman, PREMA Racing
Photograph by: James Sutton / Motorsport Pictures
And sure, their success consists of the direct feeder divisions for F1. They gained three consecutive F3 drivers’ titles between 2019 and 2021, and every of these drivers are doing fairly nicely for themselves, nowadays. There’s Piastri, who at the moment leads the F1 world championship, Hauger, who leads the Indy NXT standings, and Shwartzman, who simply grew to become the primary rookie to earn pole place for the Indianapolis 500 in 42 years. Oh, and so they’ve additionally gained the F3 crew championship in 4 of the final six years.
They’ve earned three drivers’ titles in Method 2 as nicely, coming in 2017 with Leclerc, 2020 with Mick Schumacher, and 2021 with Piastri. There was even a GP2 (F2’s earlier identify) title with future F1 grand prix winner Pierre Gasly. Even a comparatively new sequence like F1 Academy can’t escape Prema, which has gained the crew championship there in each 2023 and 2024.
Macau, Le Mans, and now IndyCar
#9 Prema Orlen Crew Oreca 07 – Gibson LMP2 of Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz, Lorenzo Colombo
Photograph by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Though we’re primarily specializing in championships, it’s additionally value mentioning that they know how one can win the Macau Grand Prix as nicely, which is principally the Tremendous Bowl of junior system racing. Their drivers gained that iconic occasion in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Whereas a number of different entrants have reached three wins, solely two organizations have ever gained greater than that.
And whereas they’ve competed in at the very least two dozen ongoing or defunct junior single-seater divisions, in addition they went and shaped an endurance racing division. They earned the 2022 European Le Mans Collection title in LMP2, whereas additionally securing a runner-up end in that class on the Le Mans 24 throughout that very same yr.
And in case it wasn’t clear, no, they by no means tried an oval race earlier than the 109th operating of the Indianapolis 500.
That is solely new for each Shwartzman and Prema Racing. Within the first 5 races of the yr, they’d no begins increased than sixteenth, and no finishes increased than 18th when taking a look at each Shwartzman and his teammate Callum Ilott.
This Indy 500 pole feels prefer it got here out of nowhere, and whereas it sort of did, we’re not coping with true rookies right here. It additionally helps when you’ve got Eric Leichtle, a SpaceX engineer with earlier expertise at Crew Penske, working along with your group.
Whereas nonetheless fairly the upset, Prema has been on this racing enterprise for a very long time, and so they actually know how one can present up unannounced in a brand new sequence and instantly shake up the established order.Â
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Nick DeGroot
IndyCar
Prema Powerteam
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