Former Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher needs a big comeback on his debut in the US IndyCar Series in order to achieve a top result for his racing team Rahel Latterman Lanigan Racing.
At his IndyCar debut on Sunday (6:29 p.m. CET) in St. Petersburg in the US state of Florida, Mick Schumacher will only start from 21st place. The 26-year-old did not achieve a lap time of 1:01.3983 minutes in qualifying. Pole position on the 2.8 kilometer street circuit went to Scott McLaughlin (1:00.5426 mins).
The qualifying was divided into two groups of twelve and 13 drivers respectively, with the best six in each group ending up in Q2. Schumacher was fitted with a fresh set of soft tires in the first attempt at Q1 and was leading the field at half time. His competitors initially chose the hard mixture and ultimately gave the Germans a pass.
“To be honest, we had a really good car,” said Schumacher afterwards: “We made some big changes to it, and they all pointed in the right direction. We probably saw that with the first tire.”
The IndyCar newcomer explained: “Of course, many other drivers switched to black tires, but we switched straight to red ones. This results in a certain time difference. Unfortunately, we had a lot of traffic on the second set of tires on the first lap, which actually would have been enough to get ahead.” Schumacher now has to analyze more closely why no better time has emerged.
The red tire compound still “felt good,” he said, and he was hopeful that he would be able to “work his way forward” in the race. Mick Schumachers concluded: “I’m very happy with our performance this weekend. Now we just have to top it all off and get a good race result, even from where we are now. I think we can do it as a team.”
Ex-Formula 1 driver on the front row
Former Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson (Andretti) starts on the front row next to pole setter Scott McLaughlin (Penske) from New Zealand. He is followed by the surprisingly strong rookie Dennis Hauger (Dale Coyne Racing) and defending champion Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi).
Schumacher is also a rookie, but he doesn’t like the term. “I don’t see it as a rookie year and I don’t allow myself any rookie mistakes,” he said before his debut. Nevertheless, he is listed as a newcomer in the USA, even though he has plenty of experience as a racing driver.
From 2021 to 2022 he lived his dream as a Formula 1 driver at Haas before he was shown the door. After a year as a reserve driver at Mercedes, he completed two years for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship, where he also took part in the classic 24 Hours of Le Mans. Now he restarts his IndyCar debut from 21st place.
