Indianapolis - The new team's rookie driver won pole position for the Indianapolis 500.

Robert Shwartzman is a 25-year-old dual-nationalist Israeli and Russian, the first Indy 500 rookie to win a pole since Teo Fabi in 1983. Shwartzman drove to Prema Racing for Prema Racing, an Italian team that competed in Formula 1 in Europe and made his IndyCar debut this season.

After winning the steel run, Shwartzman was besieged by a group of red team members.

"Honestly, it feels like I'm dreaming. How I feel when I go to do quality work, I just did it in my dreams," he said. "It's the Indy 500. It's the main race of the year. Honestly, it's incredible."

Shwartzman has been engaged in Formula 1 and was part of the Ferrari development program and its reserve drivers from 2021 to the end of last season - when Prema included him in both of its teams.

He was fourth of six drivers who made a qualifying attempt and picked up the pole from Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Takuma Sato. But he still has to wait for McLaren's Pato O'Ward and Meyer Shank's Felix Rosenqvist to run, watching nervously from Pit Lane.

O'Ward was ranked first and landed in third place, with Rosenqvist falling to fifth, sandwiched in the second row between Chip Ganassi racing players Scott Dixon and Álex Palou. It's a weird end point, as Ganassi cars are expected to fight each other in the "Great America Race" next Sunday.

2008 champion Dixon said: "The rookie on the pole with Shwartzman - how crazy that is that? New team. I didn't come at all."

The pole was open and it was the first attack when Penske was disqualified for two racers defending Indiana 500 champions Josef Newgarden and Will Power.

Last year, all three Penske drivers started in the front row, but will be ranked tenth, 11th and 12th in the fourth row next weekend. This favors Ghanasi, but from Saturday to Sunday, their pace has dropped surprisingly.

So Sato sat on the top of the scoring tower in the first game of nearly a year until Shwartzman was shocking.

"I don't even know what to say. This car is amazing, I can't even expect to get here, I don't even want to be the location. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for the fans who cheered me on. It's incredible."