St. Petersburg, Fla. — Mick Schumacher has the experience and the last name that has created a buzz going into the 2026 season.
Just look at some of the odds. Bookmakers have Schumacher, who has never made an INDYCAR start and has no experience of any kind on an oval, as having a better chance at winning the 2026 INDYCAR title than his teammate Graham Rahal, who has 309 career starts.
The son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, Mick takes two full seasons of Formula 1 experience and additional seasons of sports-car experience to INDYCAR.
Why make the move?
“Good racing, good people,” Schumacher told me earlier this year. “The competition is quite fierce and strong. So looking forward to competing with them and excited to go racing.”
Mick Schumacher on track during the INDYCAR Series Test Session at Phoenix Raceway in February.
So the big question leading into the INDYCAR season opener Sunday at St. Petersburg (noon ET, FOX) is how will Schumacher do? The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team has had mercurial performance and has won one race in the last five years.
Schumacher, driving for Haas F1, managed a career-best finish of sixth in his two full seasons on the world’s biggest racing stage.
The 26-year-old Schumacher won the European Formula 3 title in 2018 and the FIA Formula 2 title in 2020.
“What would be a success?,” Schumacher said in his introductory news conference last November. “I think honestly, ultimately, just the feeling that we’ve been able to put everything in place and that we [find] ourselves a target. What that target exactly will be, I think that’s something we’ll have to figure out as we go and kind of match our expectations to what we can achieve.
“But I am very positive. I think there’s lots of good things out there and lots of good things happening at the moment, so I don’t want to say, ‘OK this is a target right now,’ but definitely our aim is to do our best.”
Rahal, the son of INDYCAR great Bobby Rahal, said the key for Schumacher is to be himself.
“I grew up with a family name not nearly as big as Schumacher,” Rahal said. “I know the pressures. I can’t imagine the pressure that he lives under each and every day. Be yourself. Build your own legacy. Do what you do. Don’t try to live up to Dad. Don’t try to do all that stuff.
“Be Mick Schumacher. Develop your own name. And over here, he’s got the great opportunity to do that. I’m excited to be a part of that. I’m excited to help him every step of the way.”
‘Lots of good things happening’ for Mick Schumacher with his rookie INDYCAR season on the horizon.
Two drivers in the INDYCAR Series have substantial Formula 1 experience, and they know about the transition.
Marcus Ericsson competed in Formula 1 for five years from 2014-18.
I think it’s always hard to go from European racing over to INDYCAR,” Ericsson told me. “I made that step, and it’s definitely a big challenge. It’s very different.
“But obviously, Mick has shown over in Europe that he’s an extremely good driver, so it’s going to be fun to follow him and see how he does. And obviously it’s great for the series as well, to get a name like the Schumacher name to come over and race in INDYCAR. I think that’s huge for us.”
Neither Ericsson nor Romain Grosjean, who spent a decade in Formula 1, competed against Mick Schumacher.
I don’t know him as a driver,” Grosjean told me. “I’m looking forward to race against him and spend weekends with him. I think having the Schumacher name in indica is awesome. It’s one of the biggest names in motorsport.”
That’s for sure. And Schumacher will carry the No. 47, the number he has used at various times in his career. The number is significant in part because the 7 signifies the number of championships won by his father, who retired after the 2012 season and suffered a traumatic brain injury in a skiing accident in 2013.
“I guess I chose a number pretty early on when having to choose what racing number I would have for Formula 1,” Schumacher told me. “And then there were so many coincidences with that specific number that I just chose to stick with it.
“And it was available in INDYCAR, which automatically kind of meant to me that I would have to try and get it. And luckily enough, I got it.”