PREMA Racing’s entry into the NTT IndyCar Series with a two-car Chevy-powered car will face some serious challenges, but the Italian team understands what it has signed up for in 2025.
With IndyCar expected to implement a new charter system that favors its ten existing full-time teams, locks in 25 entries from those teams at the majority — if not all — events, and potentially caps the starting grid at 27 cars (excluding the Indianapolis 500), PREMA is poised to represent the 28th and 29th entries next season, and would need to displace two veteran cars in qualifying to stay on and compete in the races.
There is a potential that IndyCar would reconsider the 27-car cap before finalizing the charter, and while PREMA is well aware of the hurdles it may face as a non-charter team, the three-time Formula 2 winners remain undeterred by what lies ahead.
“Well, we’re aware of the situation and have obviously had various conversations with IndyCar, but [the charter system] is not finalized yet,” PREMA Racing IndyCar CEO Piers Philips told RACER. “It’s something that has been discussed since the beginning since [charters] have been muttering about it for years, haven’t they? It is what it is from our perspective. But we are not terrified of it.
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“We are not afraid to come in and compete for our positions on the grid. There are several excellent teams in this field. There are some incredible challenges in terms of racetracks. And on the PREMA side, it is my desire and belief that we will be competitive, but what do you consider to be competitive in season one?”
After producing F2 championships for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, ex-Haas F1 driver Mick Schumacher, and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, as well as F3 titles for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, and dozens of other championships across most major European training series, PREMA has reason to be optimistic about its chances in IndyCar.
“We have to have structured goals to achieve,” Phillips remarked. “But the entire idea of anything PREMA has ever done is that it is successful, wins, and wins championships. And that is the goal. We are not going here to make up numbers and scrape through the race from the rear of the grid. Like I mentioned, we’re aware of the charter system and the ongoing discussions.”
Although this week’s revelation of PREMA’s IndyCar ambitions is new, the team’s interest in joining the series, which was announced in January, dates back to 2023, and with Phillips picked as program leader, they’ve been working behind the scenes for quite some time.
Its primary focus is IndyCar, and only IndyCar; it will not enter the Indy NXT series in the near future, and drivers have expressed a strong interest in PREMA’s contact information since the project’s inception. Among the free agents rumored to be on the team’s shopping list are Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi and former PREMA F2 driver and three-year IndyCar veteran Callum Ilott.
All other specifics, such as how the team is funded and when it will begin the move-in process in an Indiana-based shop, will be revealed when they become available.
“It is a massive investment. PREMA squad manager Angelina Ertsou told RACER that it is a significant task not just from a sporting but also financial one. “Internally, we don’t want to reveal how we intend to fund it. It is a private subject, but I can assure you that we are here because we are capable of doing so.”
The most valuable asset in IndyCar is experienced people to staff and drive the cars, and Phillips believes excellent progress has been made in recent months.
“From my side, it would be remiss to say that we haven’t already started down that process, and was significantly down the line with various critical components with cars and equipment,” he went on to explain. “We’re in that process right now, and have been for quite some time. Regarding facilities, they will be in the Indianapolis region, and as of now, we have nothing to announce or commit to, but maybe that will change as early as this week. It is all a work in progress.
“To the point about the staff, I’m not willing to reveal their identities at this time, but the team’s core is already on board. And I am very excited about the level of experience, both in IndyCar and other forms of motorsport, to be able to work closely with the group in Italy, as well as the people in the paddocks and the individuals that we know here in the United States, and to blend the team with the best of both sides.”
With his most recent IndyCar appearances as a team boss at Arrow McLaren and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Phillips intends to instill a winning mindset in the multi-national crew members.
“We’ve got a more progressive organization with a different way of working to be more consistently competitive within the series,” he went on to say. “I believe that when you do this as an organization, integrating from both sides, you will end up with a lot more balanced and energized scenario. And I believe it all boils down to leadership.
“Everyone talks about culture, but you create your own culture, which begins at the top. It starts with empowering individuals. It begins by encouraging individuals to take ownership of the various locations. You make everyone a significant, valued component of that organization, rather than just being a minor cog in a large team. And that is what I fully intend to do.”
