Antonio Felix da Costa led the way in first official Formula E pre-season test in Madrid, as Prema announced Robert Shwartzman for 2025 IndyCar season.
Formula E –
The first official session for ABB FIA Formula E’s pre-season testing concluded on Tuesday afternoon, with TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa topping the timesheets in Madrid. It was a smooth first day of running around the Circuito de Jarama for the GEN3 Evo machines with Antonio Felix da Costa setting the fastest lap of the afternoon – a 1m29.220s. He was joined in the top three by Jake Dennis in his Andretti and the DS PENSKE of Maximilian Guenther who will be racing with the team this year.
Edoardo Mortara popped his Mahindra into fourth towards the end of the session, with Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top five in his new Maserati MSG Racing machine. Reigning World Champion Pascal Wehrlein finished in eighth, with Andretti’s new signing Nico Mueller finishing in sixth. The US-based team also announced that Jak Crawford had joined the team as its official Reserve and Development Driver for Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, this afternoon.
Almost all the grid got laps around the 3.850km venue this afternoon. However, there were four cars missing as the Jaguar TCS Racing and Nissan drivers had to watch from the sidelines. Both teams were found to be in a procedural and minor overspend breach by the Formula E Financial Regulations, and as a result were handed fines and received a minor sporting penalty in the form of a half-day suspension (three hours), which was served today. Plenty of teams showed off their new paint jobs for the first time, with vibrant new looks for the Porsche team, Kiro Race Co and LOLA Yamaha ABT to name a few.
Result: https://livetiming.alkamelsystems.com/fiaformulae
IndyCar –
PREMA Racing is thrilled to announce that Robert Shwartzman will be joining the team for the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Reuniting with the PREMA family after a successful stint in Endurance racing, the 25-year-old Israeli (Russian) will return to single-seaters, completing the team’s Chevrolet-powered effort for the upcoming season.
Shwartzman joined PREMA for the first time in 2018, claiming third place in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and ending up as the top rookie of that year, to which he added the Toyota Racing Series title. In 2019, he cruised to the inaugural FIA Formula 3 Championship title of the new era, kicking off PREMA’s dominant form in the series.
He stayed with the team for his jump to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, where he achieved six wins and 14 podium finishes in two seasons, becoming vice-champion in 2021. He made his Formula 1 testing debut in 2020 with Scuderia Ferrari, continuing to test with the Italian squad and Haas F1 Team the following year.
In 2022, he was appointed as a test driver by Scuderia Ferrari and made several Formula 1 testing and free practice appearances, while also performing simulator duties. In 2023, after joining the Italian manufacturer’s F1 reserve driver pool, he entered the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, securing one win. For 2024, he was confirmed as a reserve driver in Formula 1, and made his prototype racing debut, driving a Ferrari 499P in the FIA World Endurance Championship. After taking part in his maiden Le Mans 24 Hours, he delivered a memorable win at the Lone Star Le Mans in Austin.
Coming back to PREMA Racing, he will be joining forces with fellow alumni Callum Ilott for the team’s ground-breaking INDYCAR debut. While facing new challenges, including racing on ovals, his raw speed, experience, and insight into the team’s work ethic and method will make him a brilliant asset for the coming season and beyond.
Rene Rosin – Team Owner, PREMA Racing: “We are extremely delighted to welcome Robert back to the PREMA family. We have had some exceptional seasons together, winning a lot of races and the 2019 FIA F3 title, and we also thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He is an extremely talented driver and I think that, by working together, we will be able to overcome the steep learning curve that lies ahead of us. I cannot wait to see him and Callum compete under the PREMA banner again.”
Piers Phillips – CEO, PREMA Racing INDYCAR: “Having completed our line-up is a major step forward as our operation continues to prepare for its first INDYCAR season. Robert has a very impressive resume and has been competitive everywhere he went, from single-seaters to GT and prototypes. We think his skills and versatility will help him considerably, and will also help our team to learn faster and be more efficient. We look forward to getting the work started with Robert, Callum and Chevrolet as soon as possible.”
Robert Shwartzman: “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. 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.”
[Note: The story is as per press release]