Following confirmation Mick Schumacher will make a switch to IndyCar next season, plans are coming together for his preparation schedule.
Schumacher has a large sample of experiences to draw from, including 43 Formula 1 starts in 2021 and 2022 with HAAS F1 and more recent outings in WEC.
He completed one test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in October, which helped him realize that he could find a lot of enjoyment in the series.
He will still need to familiarize himself with the differences IndyCar brings, however, including learning the best approach to tackle oval racing.
RLL team president Jay Frye is working on the best way to bring the team’s newest driver up to speed ahead of his 2026 debut.
“We were fortunate to have Mick come in for the test,” said Frye. “It was a four or five day thing. We came in on a sim, we did seat fittings so we had a lot of activities over a four-day period, which was really cool. Then obviously the test went very well.
“Over the next month there’s going to be a lot of new things happening with Mick and with Mick’s team.
“We’ve already over the past month started kind of working quietly on what that could look like. Obviously with today and yesterday’s announcement we can go full speed ahead.
“We’ve thought about how to divide [the offseason] up. It’s probably going to be four oval tests, two road courses and then one street course, which will be Sebring.
“Three of those have been already scheduled and the other ones we’re working on now to see how it fits throughout the race calendar, too. It’ll probably be four, two and one.”
Lots to learn
Although Schumacher only has three months until his first IndyCar race weekend, he is not intimidated by the amount of things he has to learn.
The 26-year-old knows there is a long list of unique things in the American series and is already preparing for the new challenge.
“I think that obviously everything will be pretty much new to me,” predicted Schumacher. “A lot of the racetracks are new, oval racing will be new, so there’s a lot of things that I still have to understand, to learn.
“Obviously have great teammates alongside me, who one has a lot of experience and one who has just had fresh experience. I think I have a good combination there of kind of pointers to go off.
“I think it reminds me a little bit of good old karting days. I think pretty similar to how WEC racing was. There’s a lot of side-by-side and maybe a little touch here and there.
“From what I understand, the cars are pretty robust, as well, when it comes to side-by-side action, and I’ve talked to a couple other drivers, and they really enjoy the racing side of things.”
Schumacher’s first IndyCar race weekend will be on the streets of St. Petersburg from February 27 – March 1.
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