Yet, nothing seems to faze him, according to former IndyCar driver and 2012 Indy 500 pole position winner Ryan Briscoe, who this year is acting as Shwartzman’s mentor.
Briscoe joined Prema Racing as its sporting director this year in what is the first season for the Italian team in the US single-seater series.
That covers a lot of jobs, most important of all is keeping his drivers cool, calm, and collected.
Shwartzman’s debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is something of a double-edged sword in Briscoe’s mind.
On one hand, he wants the 25-year-old to treat it like any other race. On the other hand, the magnitude of racing in front of 350,000 spectators is one worth taking in.
Shwartzman could have flown under the radar like fellow rookies Nolan Siegel and Louis Foster, but threw it on pole position and made himself an overnight sensation in doing so.
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“There are going to be a lot of emotions,” Briscoe told Speedcafe at Indianapolis.
“Maybe it’s easier being a rookie. I feel like one of my easiest 500s was my first one because it really was just another race to me then.
“The more I come back to the Indy 500, the more it means to me and the more you realise what a big deal it is.
“Especially for someone like Robert, who didn’t pay attention to IndyCar racing or the Indy 500, he’s just been a Formula 1 guy his whole career, as was I before I came here.
“I think it’s almost easier that way, so try to keep that mindset. It is just another race. That’s the best approach for him being on pole. You’ve started on pole before. just started like any other race, get a good clean start and drive it down into Turn 1 and get the thing underway.
“That is the best way to look at it, but there’s no hiding from the people that he’s going to see walking through Gasoline Alley. I mean, you haven’t seen it yet either. I mean it’s f***ing amazing. It’s so many people.
“I get goosebumps talking about it now, but when you haven’t experienced it, you can almost ignore it. I don’t want him to completely ignore it because I want him to realise what a big deal it is but also just get on with the job.”
“You start on pole and lead the field. Take it in. The crowd’s gonna be going absolutely crazy. I remember this. You do a couple of parade laps, three wide, 11 rows of three, and you’re up the front,” Briscoe added.
“For me, it’s a moment really to just take in the moment. You’re never going to experience anything like it. But then just make sure you’re focused on the start.
“We’ll have a plan and just execute the plan, don’t do any mis-shifts or anything and just get the race underway and then just keep it smooth. It’s a long race. Just be there. If you start falling back, keep cool, just stay with it.
“It’s a long day and a lot of people are gonna make mistakes out there, so just be smooth, have good pit stops, keep learning throughout the day, ask questions if you’re not sure where we are or not, where he is on the tools, because we can help him. I’m looking forward to it.”
So what of his chances? Lapping at breakneck speeds in qualifying solo is one thing, but going wheel-to-wheel on the fastest oval in the country is another.
Briscoe has full faith that the ex-Ferrari junior can be competitive but admits the reality is that he’ll likely spend a lot of time learning.
A reality check, the Australian said, wouldn’t hurt.
“He needs to run strong and not expect it to be easy,” said Briscoe.
“We want to just get a good clean start and hopefully lead into Turn 1. The expectation is to get a good start out of Turn 4, lead into Turn 1, get through Turns 1 and 2 and then go racing.
“Most likely, he’s not going to lead the end of the first lap. The hole you punch as the leader here, you’re most likely going to get overtaken.
“When I started on pole, I didn’t lead the end of the first lap, but I led the second lap.”
Shwartzman’s meteoric rise to pole position for the Indianapolis 500 hasn’t come as a total shock to Briscoe.
The youngster has an insatiable thirst for speed. Despite his relative experience, Shwartzman has had intent attached to every lap.
It’s that mindset that Briscoe believes will put the rookie in good stead.
“He has a winning mentality and he’s definitely going into this race wanting to win it,” said Briscoe.
“He’s been like that from the first day we put the cars on track. We entered this race hoping to be decent, but it was like, okay, he’s got zero experience on ovals, let’s just get rolling.
“I think it was already at the end of the first day, he was like, ‘Why are we so slow?’ I said ‘Well, we haven’t trimmed out the wing yet. Are you going flat through the corners?’ And he’s just like ‘Well, I need to be faster’. And that’s just all he wants. He just wants to be faster.
“He catches you sometimes. I might sometimes be on the conservative side – ‘Well, let’s work on the racecraft and this and that’, and he’s just like, ‘Well, we need more speed’ and I think that’s part of where he ended up on pole.
“He was really driving that just more, more, and more. He’s just wheeling it. He’s been doing great. So his mindset going into the race, I think he wants to start at the front and just stay at the front. Hopefully he can. That’s gonna be the goal. That’s gonna be the goal for sure.”
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