Israeli-born, Russia-raised Indy 500 pole winner Robert Shwartzman calls for peace around the world
Israeli-born IndyCar driver Robert Shwartzman used his platform after a stunning pole-winning run for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday to call for peace both in the nation where he was born and Russia, where he was largely raised and under whose banner he drove until its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Making his debut in the 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,' the 25-year-old Shwartzman's four-lap average of 232.790 mph beat out a host of open-wheel racing's biggest stars to earn the first spot on the starting grid for the May 25 race.
Then, he made an impassioned plea for peace in the Middle East, where Israel has been at war with Hamas-led Palestinian groups since 2023, and Eastern Europe, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top U.S. officials Sunday ahead of a phone call Monday between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at ending their war.
'I just want peace in the world,' Shwartzman said. 'I want people to be good, and I don't want the separation of countries, saying, 'This is bad country. This is good country.' There is no bad or good. We're all human beings, and we just have to support each other. We need to find ways to, let's say, negotiate things. Find ways to agree on things, you know? Because from my experience, there is always, you know, a gold medal, I'm calling it — like, there's always the right path.'
Shwartzman was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He began racing go-karts when he was 4 years old, and eventually, his budding career in motorsports took him to Italy and elsewhere in Europe.
He's a former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and served as a Formula 1 reserve driver until just last year.
In November, he was hired by Italy-based Prema Racing as one of two drivers for its nascent IndyCar program. He'd never raced on an oval before arriving at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where speeds can reach up to 240 mph on the straightaways, and he was considered an afterthought to qualify anywhere near the front of the prestigious Indy 500.
Shwartzman was surprised by the raucous cheer he received upon winning the pole — and really, the reception he has had among American racing fans throughout the month — given the way he was treated by many fans in Europe.
'Here, I feel really good with the fans. In my couple years in Europe, it was a bit more tense for me, I have to admit,' Shwartzman said. 'Some fans supported me but some were against me. There were very tough moments in my life where I didn't do anything bad. I didn't support anything. I generally support people from my country, but all people with respect, and some people were saying bad things just because of where I was born.'
Perhaps those experiences were one of the reasons why Shwartzman was so vocal in asking for peace on Sunday.
'I really hope that at the end of the day, everything's going to be good in the world. It's going to be all calm,' he said. 'From my side, I try to just, you know, represent my country and do my best, let people know that I'm here and that I'm giving it all.'
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The Betfred Derby – Runner-by-runner guide and tips
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The favourite Delacroix is no standout on form, the 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court is stepping up half a mile in trip and The Lion In Winter belatedly needs to build on his two-year-old promise. The last two could probably do with the rain staying away, an unsettled weather forecast perhaps influencing Ryan Moore's decision to give up the ride on The Lion In Winter in favour of Delacroix. Pride Of Arras and Damysus, the Dante Stakes winner and runner-up, appeal most of those towards the head of the betting, but the form of the York race doesn't look robust, as there was a muddling pace and the first 10 finishers were covered by just six lengths at the line. There are plenty of runners who appeal at big prices and this feels like a Derby in which it's worth taking a chance on some outsiders. Midak (16/1), TENNESSEE STUD (33/1) and Lazy Griff (100/1) appeal most on that score. It's Tennessee Stud who is my selection. Ignore his defeat behind Delacroix on his reappearance at Leopardstown. The winner was race-fit whereas the selection had been given an extended break and is a big horse who would have needed the outing. Plus it wasn't a truly run race. This test promises to bring out more in him, given he had the stamina to win a Group 1 contest over 1m 2f on testing ground as a juvenile, and the Derby has been the aim since then. Betfred Derby – Guide to runners and odds Delacroix (14) – 3/1 with Betfred Trainer: Aidan O'Brien; Jockey: Ryan Moore: Has won both starts in 1m 2f Group 3 Derby trials at Leopardstown this year, quickening off a steady pace most recently. This requires more, but he's a half-brother to a Group 1 winner over 1m 6f and should be fine over the longer trip. He is the choice of Ryan Moore, who has ridden the last two Derby winners (and has won the race four times overall), over the other two runners for Aidan O'Brien, who has won the race a record 10 times. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ruling Court (7) – 7/2 with Betfred Trainer: Charlie Appleby; Jockey: William Buick: Finished behind The Lion In Winter over 7f in the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at York last summer, but improved to win the 2,000 Guineas – the season's first Classic – over a mile at Newmarket in May. He is by Justify, the sire of last year's Derby winner, and the dam's sire, High Chaparral, won the Derby in 2002, although a deeper dive into his pedigree suggests he's not a sure stayer. Slow ground would be a worry. ⭐⭐⭐ Pride Of Arras (16) – 5/1 with Betfred Trainer: Ralph Beckett; Jockey: Rossa Ryan: On his sole start as a two-year-old, he landed a Sandown maiden that his trainer won in 2021 with the subsequent Derby third and Group 1 winner Westover. Followed up to win the 1m 2f Group 2 Dante Stakes at York on his reappearance, quickening off a steady pace. Bred to stay on the dam's side of his pedigree, his striding data gives him every chance of getting the trip as well, for all that slow ground would be a question mark. The Dante form doesn't look strong, but he's open to further improvement. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Lion In Winter (19) – 8/1 with Betfred Trainer: Aidan O'Brien; Jockey: Colin Keane: By the 2009 Derby winner Sea The Stars and his dam won over 1m 4f. Looked a top-class prospect in winning his first two starts over 7f last year, notably the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at York (when Ruling Court was third). However, his season was cut short early and he failed to make the 2,000 Guineas. Unplaced behind three of these rivals on his belated return in the Dante at York, where he pulled hard, met some trouble late on and wasn't given an unduly hard ride. He was said to need the run and his trainer's last two winners of this race were bouncing back from disappointing reappearances. Ryan Moore has deserted him for Delacroix and slow ground would be a question mark, but he shouldn't be written off. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Damysus (15) – 12/1 with Betfred Trainer: John and Thady Gosden; Jockey: James Doyle: By the great Frankel out of a 1m 4f Group 2 winner. Improving with racing, most recently finishing second to Pride Of Arras in the 1m 2f Dante Stakes at York. Didn't help himself by hanging left, so he will need to be more professional to handle this trickier track, with its camber in the straight, while the Dante form may not be reliable. But he's still learning and could progress enough for the greater stamina test. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lambourn (10) – 12/1 with Betfred Trainer: Aidan O'Brien; Jockey: Wayne Lordan: By his connections' 2014 Derby winner Australia. Runner-up to stablemate Delacroix over 1m 2f on reappearance, before winning Group 3 Chester Vase over this trip. Needs to improve a lot. ⭐⭐⭐ Stanhope Gardens (2) – 16/1 with Betfred Trainer: Ralph Beckett; Jockey: Hector Crouch: Ran green when third behind Ruling Court in a 7f maiden at Sandown on their debuts last year and later finished a close second to Delacroix in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes over a mile at Newmarket. Has had an unconventional prep, returning only two weeks ago to win what was little better than an egg-and-spoon race over a mile at Salisbury. His connections have been keen to get him here but he needs to improve, which he may do for this trip. ⭐⭐⭐ Midak (4) – 16/1 with Betfred Trainer: Francis-Henri Graffard; Jockey: Mickael Barzalona: French-trained runner who seems to have surprised his connections, as he wasn't originally entered in this race or some other big events but has been supplemented into this field for £75,000. Goes for the Aga Khan Studs and this year's Derby is being run in honour of the late owner, His Highness Aga Khan IV, whose five Derby winners include Shergar. Successful on all three starts in France, most recently the 1m 2½f Group 3 Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud, which Mickael Barzalona won on Pour Moi before their Derby win in 2011. Not as flashy as some of these, but he'll stay well. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nightwalker (5) – 25/1 with Betfred Trainer: John and Thady Gosden; Jockey: Tom Marquand: Another by Frankel and out of a half-sister to same connections' Logician (by Frankel), who won the St Leger over 1m 6½f. Looks to need this trip and more, most recently keeping on after getting behind in the 1m 2f Dante Stakes at York (behind two of these rivals). May not be fast enough, but his best is still to come. Now fitted with cheekpieces for the first time. ⭐⭐⭐ Tennessee Stud (12) – 33/1 with Betfred Trainer: Joseph O'Brien; Jockey: Dylan Browne McMonagle: Successful in a three-runner Group 1 race over 1m 2f on heavy ground in France last year (Green Storm second). That race was won the previous season by the same owner's Los Angeles, who was then third in this race and won the Irish Derby. This race has been the plan ever since France. Was beaten almost seven lengths into third by Delacroix at Leopardstown on his reappearance (1m 2f), but a steady early pace placed the emphasis on speed, and he will have needed the run, as his connections chose to skip the early Derby trials. Stamina looks like his game and he's a big horse who has improvement in him. Might not be the worst outsider. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tornado Alert (11) – 33/1 with Betfred Trainer: Saeed bin Suroor; Jockey: Oisin Murphy: Front-running fourth behind Ruling Court in the 2,000 Guineas over a mile at Newmarket on his reappearance. 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The Guardian
2 hours ago
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Russia is at war with Britain, the US is no longer a reliable ally and the UK has to respond by becoming more cohesive and more resilient, according to one of the three authors of the strategic defence review. Fiona Hill, from county Durham, became the White House's chief Russia adviser during Donald Trump's first term and contributed to the British government's strategy, and made the remarks in an interview with the Guardian. 'We're in pretty big trouble,' Hill says, describing the UK's geopolitical situation as caught between 'the rock' of Vladimir Putin's Russia and 'the hard place' of Donald Trump's increasingly unpredictable United States. The best known of the reviewers appointed by Labour, alongside Lord Robertson, a former Nato secretary general, and retired general Sir Richard Barrons, Hill, 59, said she was happy to take on the role because it was 'such a major pivot point in global affairs'. She remains a dual national even after living over 30 years in the US. 'Russia has hardened as an adversary in ways that we probably hadn't fully anticipated,' Hill says, arguing that Putin sees the Ukraine war as a starting point to Moscow becoming 'a dominant military power in all of Europe'. As part of that long-term effort, Russia is already 'menacing the UK in various different ways,' she says, citing 'the poisonings, assassinations, sabotage operations, all kinds of cyber attacks and influence operations. The sensors that we see that they're putting down around critical pipelines, efforts to butcher undersea cables.' The conclusion, Hill says, is that 'Russia is at war with us'. Though the foreign policy expert, a long time Russia watcher, says she first made a similar warning in 2015, in a revised version of a book she wrote about the Russian president with Clifford Gaddy, reflecting on the invasion and annexation of Crimea. 'We said Putin had declared war on the West,' she says. At the time, other experts disagreed, but Hill says events since demonstrate 'he obviously had, and we haven't been paying attention to it'. The Russian leader, she argues, sees the fight in Ukraine as 'part of a proxy war with the United States; that's how he has persuaded China, North Korea and Iran to join in'. Putin believes, she says, that Ukraine has already been decoupled from the US relationship because 'Trump really wants to have a separate relationship with Putin to do arms control agreements and also business that will probably enrich their entourages further, though Putin doesn't need any more enrichment'. When it comes to defence, however, Hill says that the UK cannot rely on the military umbrella of the US as during the Cold War and in the generation that followed, at least 'not in the way that we did before'. In her description, the UK 'is having to manage its number one ally', though the challenge is not to overreact because 'you don't want to have a rupture'. This way of thinking even appears in the defence review published earlier this week, which says 'the UK's long-standing assumptions about global power balances and structures are no longer certain' – a rare acknowledgement in a British government document of how far and how fast Trumpism is affecting foreign policy certainties. The review team reported to Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, and defence secretary John Healey. Most of Hill's interaction were with Healey however, and Hill said she only met the prime minister once – describing him as 'pretty charming … in a proper and correct way' and as 'having read all the papers'. Hill is not drawn on if she advised Starmer or Healey on how to deal with Donald Trump, saying instead 'the advice I would give is the same I would give in a public setting'. She says simply that the Trump White House 'is not an administration, it is a court' in which a transactional president is driven by his 'own desires and interests, and who listens often to the last person he talks to'. She adds that unlike his close circle, Trump has 'a special affinity for the UK' based partly on his own family ties (his mother came from the Hebridean island of Lewis, emigrating to New York aged 18) and an admiration for the royal family, particularly the late Queen. 'He talked endlessly about that,' she says. On the other hand, Hill is no fan of the populist right administration in the White House and worries it could come to Britain if 'the same culture wars' are allowed to develop with the encouragement of Republicans from the US. Already, she notes, Reform UK won a string of council elections last month, including in her native Durham, and leader Nigel Farage wants to emulate some of the aggressive efforts to restructure government led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) before his falling out with Trump. 'When Nigel Farage says he wants to do a Doge against the local county council, he should come over here [to the US] and see what kind of impact that has,' she says. 'This is going to be the largest layoffs in US history happening all at once, much bigger than hits to steel works and coal mines.' Hill's argument is that in a time of profound uncertainty, Britain needs greater internal cohesion if it is to protect itself. 'We can't rely exclusively on anyone any more,' she says, arguing that Britain needs to have 'a different mindset' based as much on traditional defence as on social resilience. Some of that, Hill says, is about a greater recognition of the level of external threat and initiatives for greater integration, by teaching first aid in schools or encouraging more teenagers to join school cadet forces, a recommendation of the defence review. 'What you need to do is get people engaged in all kinds of different ways in support of their communities,' she says. Hill says she sees that deindustrialisation and a rise of inequality in Russia and the US has contributed to the rise in national populism in both countries. Politicians in Britain, or elsewhere, 'have to be much more creative and engage people where they are at' as part of a 'national effort'. If this seems far away from a conventional view of defence, that is because it is, though Hill also argues that traditional conceptions of war are changing as technology evolves and with it what makes a potent force. 'People keep saying the British army has the smallest number of troops since the Napoleonic era. Why is the Napoleonic era relevant? Or that we have fewer ships than the time of Charles II. The metrics are all off here,' Hill says. 'The Ukrainians are fighting with drones. Even though they have no navy, they sank a third of the Russian Black Sea fleet.' Her aim, therefore, is not just to be critical but to propose solutions. Hill recalls that a close family friend, on hearing that she had taken on the defence review, had told her: ''Don't tell us how shite we are, tell us what we can do, how we can fix things.' People understand that we have a problem and that the world has changed.'
