Mick Schumacher & His IndyCar Test

Mick Schumacher, set to test IndyCar

Mick Schumacher was announced last week as the driver for an IndyCar test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL Racing) at IMS (Indianapolis Motor Speedway), scheduled for 13th October. While this is not an official seat deal, it shows that more drivers are looking to IndyCar to continue their single-seater journey. This is not the first time that Formula 1 drivers have turned to IndyCar, with both Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean currently holding and having held a seat on the grid. IndyCar also likes to attract big names like Nigel Mansell, Juan Pablo Montoya, and even Enzo Fittipaldi, who got a McLaren IndyCar test, following in his brother Pietro’s footsteps, a fellow Haas driver who drove for RLL Racing.Mick Schumacher is the son of 7-time F1 world champion, Michael Schumacher, and has had 44 race starts in F1 himself and has been competing in WEC for the last couple of seasons for Alpine, achieving a couple of podiums. A move to sports cars seemed like the future for Mick, but it looks like his move was always back to single-seaters.

This makes sense, with the general rise of IndyCar and fellow European drivers heading to America and finding success and with his poorer form in Formula 1, achieving a best finish of sixth. There have been more seats to play for in IndyCar, too, although in more recent years, these have been more competitive.

Both Mick Schumacher and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing released statements, so here is what they have to say:Mick Schumacher: “I am very much looking forward to driving my first IndyCar test. A big thank you to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team for giving me this opportunity. The same goes for driving this car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time, a race track with a big history and that my dad has driven on before. I am excited to see which special features it holds.

“I am very curious to understand the special features and characteristics of this race car, which is different from the cars I am used to driving, yet similar, and I remain very interested in gaining experience in the diverse world of motorsport. Great to be able to see what it is all about and how difficult it is, since I hear a lot about how tough it is physically. It is not a secret that I am big fan of single seater racing after all, so this first IndyCar test will be an experience to treasure, and I am very much looking forward to driving a car where I can see my wheels.”

Bobby Rahal, Co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: “I have followed Mick’s career from afar as well as that of his father so the thought of seeing him in one of our race cars is very exciting. I think it’s going to be a great day for RLL and also for Mick, as he gets his first experience in an Indy car. Obviously, he’s got a great deal of talent and knowing that we’ve had pretty good setups for the IMS road course, it should give him a good baseline to start from.”

Jay Frye, President of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: “This is an amazing opportunity for RLL to test an elite talent like Mick and bring two legendary motorsports families together.”

So, I guess we will have to see if Mick lands a seat, as technically all the seats are full, but apparently Devlin DeFrancesco, who finished second to bottom, has performance clauses in his contract, then there might be an opening. Written by Amy