Mick Schumacher records first INDYCAR oval track test laps for RLLR
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Mick Schumacher described his first INDYCAR oval-track test laps with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as “a bit weird and awkward” Wednesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Mick Schumacher completed his first test on an oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway in preparation for the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. (Courtesy photo)
“It can only go better from here,” said Schumacher, who will contest the full, 18-race 2026 NTT IndyCar Series schedule with RLLR. Six oval races, including the 110th Indianapolis 500 on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s famed 2.5-mile oval, are featured on the schedule.
The 26-year-old son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher, Mick’s racing resume includes 43 F1 starts with a best finish of sixth, along with three podiums in World Endurance Championship competition. Natural-terrain road-courses, and street-circuits, are the only layouts on which Mick has competed.
The Swiss-born driver will wheel the No. 47 Honda-powered entry alongside INDYCAR veteran Graham Rahal, 36, and 2025 Rookie of the Year Louis Foster, 22, of Great Britain.
Schumacher said his initial experience with turning exclusively left on HMS’ 1.5-mile oval was a new sensation. “It’s different,” said Schumacher, who completed 97 laps/145.5-miles with a top speed of 194 mph. “The orientation was a bit difficult at the beginning _ like kind of knowing what side of the track I’m on, which corner I was on at the moment. After that, you get the hang of it. It’s very new to me so I’m just getting acquainted with the procedures, getting acquainted with how the car feels on-track and I think we got a pretty good hang of it today.”
Schumacher acknowledged a major difficulty was convincing his brain to keep his foot pegged on the throttle during an all-out lap.
“I think one of the weird parts of coming to test on an oval for the first time was going into the corner without braking, which was a very new thing,” Schumacher said. “Approaching the corner and still being pretty much flat-out going into the corner without braking, and then bleeding-off as you go into it, is something I had to get used to.”
Schumacher’s engineers, meanwhile, were tasked with re-acquainting themselves with setting up the No. 47’s Dallara chassis for HMS’ layout. INDYCAR competed at the Florida facility annually from 1996 to 2010, the latter as the season-ender.
“We (INDYCAR) haven’t been driving on this track in so many years,” Schumacher said, “so the approach and setup especially was very conservative. We weren’t quite in the right window at that point so everything felt a bit weird and awkward. But as we were getting into a better spot with the car, things started to feel a bit more natural and a bit more self-explanatory.
“Towards the end I felt like I was in a very good spot in terms of confidence and how I was approaching the corners. I think it’s a great place to come and do your first (oval) test. The weather is great and conditions are a bit tricky with the wind blowing and being gusty. It was a good place to start off and have your first experience.”
With the track to himself, Schumacher was free to experiment with a variety of lines, albeit on a surface that was very dirty and green.
“I was definitely trying out different lines, either going on the high line or the low line, trying to see what the differences are,” Schumacher said. “It was about trying to figure out what I could do before the first real test in Phoenix where everybody will be on-track and I will get my first real experience with the other guys.
“I think we’re putting all of the puzzles together. So far already, in the first day, I didn’t think we were going to be that far ahead of what I expected our starting point was going to be but we’re definitely on a good track toward having everything sorted for the first race.”
Next up for RLLR is a test Feb. 9-10 on Sebring International Raceway’s airport layout in Florida, with entries for Rahal, Foster and Schumacher. RLLR also will participate in the Open Test on the 1-mile Phoenix International Raceway, Feb. 17-18.
“I’m very curious to see how it’s going to be with the other cars on-track and feel that dirty air and the wash out that we’ll get from that. Lots to learn still,” said Schumacher, anticipating the PIR test. “By no means am I at the point where I can say I’m very confident with everything but we’re chipping away at things. We’re making sure that we’re getting ready for St. Pete now and after that, we’ll worry about the rest.
“Overall, I think it was a good day; I think we got everything done that we wanted to. Because the track was so green, we had to be very specific with what we wanted to do in the runs because we only had four sets of (Firestone Firehawk) tires and ran through them pretty quickly. I’m feeling prepared for what’s to come at Phoenix but have lots to learn still.
“Great job by everybody on the team. I think we can be really happy and proud of what we did today.”
In 2023 and 2024, Mick was a reserve driver for Mercedes F1, serving in the same capacity for McLaren and Williams. In 2024, Schumacher moved to the FIA World Endurance Championship with Alpine and earned his first podium finish at the Six Hours of Fuji in Japan. In 2025, Schumacher logged podium finishes at the Six Hours of Imola in Italy and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
Last Oct. 13, Mick completed an INDYCAR test on the 2.439-mile/14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, impressing RLLR team-founder/co-owner Bobby Rahal with his pace, adaptability and technical feedback. Based in Zionsville, Ind., RLLR’s co-owners are former “CBS Late Show” host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan.
The 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season will begin with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Fla., street race on Sunday, March 1. The recently revised 18-race schedule includes new venues in Arlington, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth market; Markham, Ontario, Canada and Washington, D.C. For information about the series or team, visit www.indycar.com and www.rahal.com.
Final 2025 NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 711; 2, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 515; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 452; 4, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 433; 5, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 431; 6, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 372; 7, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 372; 8, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 364; 9, Will Power, Team Penske, 357; 10, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 356;
11, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 318; 12, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 316; 13, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 313; 14, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 305; 15, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 297; 16, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 293; 17, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 282; 18, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 268; 19, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 260; 20, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 234;
21, Callum Ilott, PREMA Racing, 218; 22, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 213; 23, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 213; 24, Robert Shwartzman, PREMA Racing, 211; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 181; 26, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 171; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 123; 28, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 36; 29, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 20; 30, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 16;
31, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 12; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports, 10; 33, Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren with Henrick Motorsports, 6; 34, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian, 5.
FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES RACE BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Note _ All times Eastern
Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., Noon
Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 24 _ 110th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, 10 a.m.
Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit, 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., 9 p.m.
Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m.
Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., TBA
Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon
Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBD
Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.
Note _ Dates and times subject to change.
