Briscoe joined Prema Racing this year in what is its first IndyCar Series campaign as a two-car team.
The Australian, who took pole position for the 96th Indianapolis 500 in 2012, holds the role of sporting director.
Briscoe raced for Prema from 2000 to 2003 in Formula Renault and Formula 3 before joining Toyota as a Formula 1 test driver.
He went on to enjoy a successful IndyCar career, winning eight races with spells at Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske.
For Shwartzman, Briscoe’s helping hand has been invaluable.
“Yeah, for sure he helps. That’s what he’s doing. He’s really helping a lot with his experience, his knowledge, things he was doing in his past,” said Shwartzman.
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“Yesterday morning I was feeling really nervous about going to the qualifying. I was, like, ‘Ryan, were you actually nervous going for quali?’
“For me I never actually was nervous in my career in qualifying. It’s just one lap. You go there. There’s nothing dangerous, nothing scary.
“Here it was my first time being really nervous to go out there because you don’t know. You don’t know what’s going to be, how the car is going to be. You definitely don’t want to end up crashing here.”
Shwartzman said Briscoe’s advice before qualifying settled his nerves.
“I was really nervous, and I was, like, ‘Ryan, were you nervous?’ He was, like, ‘Yeah, I was. It’s normal. It’s absolutely normal’.
“We chatted. He calmed me down. He is, like, ‘Listen, take it easy. It’s the first year. You’re a rookie. No expectations. Just enjoy it’.
“That’s what I did. Especially when you have a good car and you can get confidence and trust that the car is going to be good, that also helps a lot.”
Neither Prema driver, Shwartzman or Callum Ilott, had shown much sign of being a pole position threat in the week leading up.
However, the 25-year-old said the approach was methodical. The team elected to perform qualifying simulations while others undertook race runs.
Still, there’s a big question mark hanging over Shwartzman who has never raced on an oval before. That’s something he reckons he’ll need to get his head around.
“We spoke with Ryan who was helping me, Ryan Briscoe, and he was, like, basically Indy splits in two races,” Shwartzman explained.
“There is one race that is just qualis and then there is another race which is the actual race. For me it’s the same approach.
“We don’t have much time obviously, and we need to try to figure out what’s the best way for the race car, how is it going to be looking like? Plus, I don’t have much experience.
“I have no experience racing on an oval, so I don’t know exactly how are the overtakes, how do you defend? It’s something absolutely new.
“I don’t want to put any high expectation on myself on that point.
“It’s obviously amazing to start first, but again, I just probably take it easy. I guess I need to just analyse and see what the others are also doing because it’s very easy to make be a mistake here.
“As I said, it can cost a lot. I just want to make it a smooth ride.”
The 109th Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes place on Monday, May 26 (AEST).
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