Robert Shwartzman stunned the IndyCar paddock by capturing pole pos𒉰ition for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Despite having never competed at an oval track before, Prema rookie Shwartzmaꦑn belied his lack of experience to top the ‘Fast Six’ on Sunday with an average time of 232.79s in the #83 Dallara-Chevrolet.

The result has helped shine the spotlight on a driver whose junior career had promised so mꩲuch potential.

The Russian/Israeli driver was a frontrunner ever since he stepped up to formula cars in 2014, scoring multiple wins in Italian F4 and outsourcing the likes of future 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Formula 1 drivers 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Mick Schumacher and Zhou Guanyu in German F4.

He car𓆉ried that form into Formula Renault Eurocup and eventually European F3, where he finished a solid third in the championship in a field that comprised several famous names including Schumacher, Zhou, Alex Palou and Dan Ticktum.

But it was in 2019 🤡when he truly 🅺cast himself out as a future F1 prospect in the newly-created FIA Formula 3 series, formed from a merger of GP3 and European F3.

In a season where Prema annihilated the competition, Shwartzman comprehensively outperformed his teammates Marcus Armstrong and Jehan Daruvala, wrapping up the title with one race to spare. In fact, Shwartzman was so consistent that year that he finished on a podium in all but the Hungarian round of the season.
 
Graduating to F2 was a big step in 2020, especially in light of the COVID-🦹19 pandemic, but the fourth place he achieved in his maiden campaign was quite impressive, even with his teammate Schumacher clinching the title.

Perhaps being beaten by future McLaren F1 star 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Oscar Piastri in 2021 didn’t help his chances, but he still performed admirably aga꧟🐓inst his teammate and ended up second in the championship.

F1 move never materialised 

That should have been enough for the Ferrari Academy driver to secure a berth into grand prix racing, potentially with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alfa Romeo or Haas, but a seat never material🌞ised for the 2022 season.

That meant a year on the sidelines for Shwartzman, who was promoted to the rank of test 🗹driver at Ferrari. By this time, he had alrꦜeady sampled contemporary Formula 1 machinery on multiple occasions and had accumulated additional miles on older Ferrari models.

Then-Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was convinced that Shwartzman was F1 material, but with both 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Charles Leclerc and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Carlos Sainz signed to long-term contracts, there was no vac🔯ancy at the Prancing Horse.

Haas could have been an ideal place for Shwartzman to start his F1 journey, but after having a sour previous experience with Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, the team was simply not willing to give a chance to another rookie. That's why it chose to bring 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nico Hulkenberg back to F1, when it had the option of hiring Shwartzm💧an.

Nevertheless, Ferrari continued to back the young racer from Tel Aviv, givi♓ng him a chance to race in GT World Challenge Europe in 2023 to remain 'race fit''. Teaming up with Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera, he won the Barcelona season finale in an AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, showing how he could do well in different types of machinery.

This then earned him a World Endurance Championship test in the Ferrari 499P in Bahrain🦋, where he impressed his bosses again to secure a drive in AF Corse’s satellite Hypercar entry for 2024.

Once𒁏 again🌊, Shwartzman lived up to the high expectations, scoring his maiden victory in Austin alongside teammates Yifei Ye and Robert Kubica.

However, while clearly feeling at home in prototype machinery, Shwart☂zman wanted to go bac💙k to racing single-seaters.

He ha♐d already tested an Indy car with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023, but when Prema announced an ambitious plan to enter America’s premier single-seater series, it was quite obvious where he would be headed next.

Accepting the IndyCar drive 🎐with Prema meant severing his ties with Ferrari and giving up on his F1 dream🔴.

It’s a move that has already star🅰ted to pay dividends, but in an alternative reality he might ꧃have been competing in another motorsport classic this weekend - the Monaco GP.