With the NTT IndyCar Series just weeks away from its March 2 season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, the entire cast of full-time drivers descended on Indianapolis for a pre-season availability. Inside Track columnist Mary Bignotti Mendez shares her takeaways from the annual event.
Believing You Can Win
Similar to past years, every driver is full of confidence and optimism, believing they can win races this year. Here’s what was learned.
“The competition is tougher than ever in INDYCAR,” explained Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, runner-up in 2023 (after a controversial red flag cost him the win), and who truly struggled in 2024, earning four top-fives, with a best finish of 2nd, along with six DNF’s. “I think that’s what makes it so cool. Andretti had their best season in a long time last year, with Colton finishing second in the championship. That was a good sign that all the work that’s been put in this off-season to be even better will give us the results. It gives me a lot of confidence that we should be in the mix every given weekend, right up there fighting with the Penskes, Ganassis, and McLarens.
“We need to be consistent,” continued Ericsson. “That’s what makes Alex Palou so great and how he can win so many championships (three in five seasons). He doesn’t have to dominate every weekend, but if you’re up there in the top-five or top-three every weekend, you’re going to collect a lot of points. I don’t have any doubt we’re going to be fast on every type of track because we did that last year. We just need to execute on race day to make sure we bring those points.”
Canada’s Own
Devlin DeFrancesco of Toronto returns, after a year away driving in IMSA, to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s No. 30 entry as part of a multi-year deal.
“It was definitely very tough to watch, but also good to be able to reflect and analyze what I need to work and improve on,” stated DeFrancesco, after two INDYCAR seasons with Andretti Global (2022 and 2023). “I’ve really been able to use this time (to figure) how we’re going to have a good, strong, consistent year and be fighting at the front. Racing is a big mental game, but obviously I always believed in myself, always had the confidence in myself that I can get the job done. The team of people I have around me – I have belief in them and they have belief in me.
“The team is very ambitious and has been working very hard during this off-season,” continued DeFrancesco. “I’ve been at the shop almost every day. Rahal is a very strong up-and-coming team, with a lot of resources. We have a great camaraderie inside, between Graham’s experience — he’s someone to really be able to lean on and learn from — and a very fast rookie in Louis Foster. Together, we have a big point to prove this year.”
The Field
Unlike in past seasons, where only a few driver changes occurred, only two teams maintained the same line-up for 2025. Team Penske continues with Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, and Will Power. Returning to Andretti Global are Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, and Marcus Ericsson.
Prema joins INDYCAR for the first time, expanding the total teams competing to 11, up from the usual ten. However, grid size is dictated by paddock and pit lane space to only 27 cars (except for the Indianapolis 500).
Here’s a look at this year’s competitors, with changes noted by asterisk:
2025 INDYCAR Grid
**Denotes new driver/car number/team for 2025 season
The Eleventh Team
Prema Racing, the Veneto, Italy-based team that, during its 40-year history, earned 40 team and 40 driver titles by developing young drivers from karting to F2, joins INDYCAR for 2025, with drivers Callum Ilott and Ferrari reserve driver Robert Shwartzman.
Prema, led by Piers Phillips, has hired people from within the INDYCAR paddock and recruited team members from Europe. Even Canada’s Michael Cannon (son of racer John Cannon), a long-time, well-respected engineer, was signed during the off-season.
Cannon is widely credited with helping the Ganassi team to be in a class by themselves at the Indy 500 in 2021 and 2022. Then Cannon was lured to AJ Foyt Racing in 2023 as its Technical Director. Through its engineering alliance with Foyt in 2024, Team Penske appears to have greatly benefited by securing the front row last May at Indy after struggling to qualify for the two previous 500s.
“We’ve only done some simulator stuff, establishing the foundations of the team, and just getting things going,” said Ilott, signed as Prema’s veteran driver. “Haven’t seen the full creation as of yet. There’s a certain way of doing things in INDYCAR, which is hard to explain, but it’s just done that way. A lot of the Europeans, especially clever young engineers coming over are (asking) what about this or that? It doesn’t quite work like that. It’s a bit different.
“With Prema, we’re going to have to be patient,” continued Ilott, who has served as F1 Alfa Romero test and reserve driver over four seasons. “You never know at which point it kind of clicks and the results start coming. A lot of people are expecting us to be very good. But remember, that’s with teams that have the foundation, all the equipment to select and choose from. We’re starting from scratch and building everything from the beginning.”
The Prema team will have their first test at the end of January at Thermal. While Ilott drove two seasons at Juncos Hollinger in 2022 and 2023, he filled in for David Malukas at two races at Arrow McLaren last year, while contesting the WEC series. Shwartzman’s only Indy experience was a test for Ganassi several years ago.
Within days of the conference, following Ilott’s characterization saying that Cannon was “INDYCAR’s own Einstein,” the news broke that Cannon had left Prema after only a few weeks. Can you guess why?
Check back next week for Part Two of Content Days Revelations…
