Robert Shwartzman and Prema take surprise pole position at the Indianapolis 500

Robert Shwartzman clinched pole position for the 109th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday with four laps at an average speed of 373.368 km/h during Fast 6, the final leg of the long qualifying session on the 4-km oval track. The upset was huge, as it was his first career oval race and also the first time Prema, his Italian team that joined IndyCar this season, had taken the pole position. It was also the first time since 1983 and Italian Teo Fabi that a rookie had won the Indianapolis 500.

"I can't believe it, I was closing my eyes and telling myself it was a dream, it wasn't real," said the former Formula 2 runner-up (in 2021 behind Oscar Piastri) and Ferrari reserve driver in F1 for three years. "Here, for my first race on an oval, I couldn't have expected to find myself in this position! But the engineers did a great job improving the car step by step, day after day, and getting to this point. I can't thank Prema and Chevrolet (its engine manufacturer) enough ." This result is all the more surprising given the difficulties Prema, of which Romain Grosjean is the reserve driver, has had since the start of the season. In five races, all on road circuits, Shwartzman has taken two 18th places (at Long Beach and at the Indy GP) as his best result.

On the front row, the 25-year-old driver will be joined by former driver Takuma Sato (48), who, as a freelance writer for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, is looking for a third victory in the 500 miles, and Pato O'Ward (McLaren), who has been a key player in recent editions but has yet to win the title. Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi), who has been unbeatable since the start of the season (4 wins in 5 races), will start in 6th position.

It's worth noting that the day was marked by the mishaps of the three Team Penske cars, which together occupied the front row in 2024. Scott McLaughlin's crash in the morning during practice prevented him from lining up for the Fast 12, the first part of qualifying for the pole which brought together the 12 best drivers from Saturday.

And then, shortly before hitting the track, his teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden, the two-time defending champion, were forced to return to the garage, as their cars were not technically compliant. Penske's mechanics had made a small aerodynamic modification to a part on which no changes, however small, are allowed. The team's three drivers will therefore be together on the fourth row (10th, 11th and 12th).

Finally, during the last-chance session, among the four slowest drivers on Saturday, rookie Jacob Abel (Dale Coyne) was eliminated and will not start next Sunday. This allowed his teammate, Rinus Veekay, Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank), and Marco Andretti (Andretti) to qualify on the 11th and final row of the race, which will be held on Sunday starting at 6:30 p.m. French time. For the first time since 2011, there are no French drivers entered.