Israeli IndyCar driver Robert Shwartzman’s memorable run at Indianapolis 500 ended abruptly on Sunday when he crashed into a wall and knocked over several of his crew members, after losing control while coming into a pit stop.
Shwartzman, a rookie who remarkably started the race as the pole sitter, led for eight laps before falling to the middle of the pack. The first-ever Israeli to take part in the high-profile race, Shwartzman hung in for nearly 100 laps, but largely failed to make up ground before the accident on pit row knocked him out of the Brickyard 500.
Shwartzman, who bested some of the best drivers in the world to win the pole a week earlier, was coming into his stall after 87 laps when he locked up his brakes. That sent his red, green and white car — the colors of the flag of Italy, where Prema Racing is based — sliding into four of his crew members, one of whom had to be taken away on a stretcher.
The damage caused by the wreck was enough to end their hopes of finishing “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
“I honestly felt really strange brakes when I was coming slow in pit lane. I locked up both front tires, which usually isn’t the case,” Shwartzman said. “I wasn’t sure if it was the brakes or because the tires were cold. I tried to be very slow. But as soon as I touched my brakes, my whole front was lost and I went right into the guys.
“It was really scary,” Shwartzman said, “because at the moment I braked I was just a passenger.”
“This is what happens, this is Indy, and hopefully next year, we’ll come and have a proper battle for the win,” he said.
Shwartzman was among many drivers — rookies and veterans alike — who had massive problems on pit lane during the race, which was won by Alex Palou following a late-race pass of Marcus Ericsson for the lead.
Alexander Rossi’s day ended when a fire broke out under his car. Rinus Veekay lost his brakes as he entered pit road, sending him in a spin down the narrow lane. Colton Herta was caught speeding and had to absorb a drive-through penalty.
But none of the problems was quite as dramatic as those faced by the rookie with dual Israeli and Russian nationality.
“It’s just really sad,” Shwartzman said after the crash, “because we did such good work in qualifying. But it’s the Indy 500. Anything can happen. A lot of strong drivers are out of the race or behind. This is the Indy 500. This happens.”
He initially raced under the Russian flag until the start of the war with Ukraine. He now races under the Israeli flag, making the Tel Aviv native the first driver from Israel to make the Indy.
Shwartzman had captured the public’s imagination with his stunning pole-winning ride for Prema Racing, a powerful European team but an Indy 500 newcomer. He was the first rookie to win the pole since 1983, then used the platform that it afforded him to make a passionate plea for peace in both the Middle East and Ukraine.
The driver, who had never before raced on an oval, was mobbed by a sea of red-clad team members as soon as his pole-winning run became official last week.