New mission in the USA
Disastrous racing debut for Mick Schumacher
March 1, 2026 – 9:55 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In the USA, Mick Schumacher is trying out a new motorsport adventure after leaving Formula 1. But the start could hardly have gone worse.
With an early rear-end collision, Mick Schumacher experienced a very bitter premiere in the IndyCar Series. The 26-year-old, through no fault of his own, was eliminated on the first lap and had to get out of his demolished racing car.
On the street circuit in St. Petersburg in the US state of Florida, Schumacher drove into the car of the American Santino Ferrucci after he was forced off in a curve. His team announced a little later that no injuries were found during an examination by the racing doctors.
The son of Formula 1 record world champion Michael Schumacher is making a new start in the IndyCar Series this year, after having hoped in vain for a new Formula 1 contract for a long time. He competes for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team and is listed as a newcomer to the US racing series, although he already has a lot of racing experience.
“I don’t see it as a rookie year and I won’t allow myself any rookie mistakes,” Schumacher said before his IndyCar debut. However, he was only able to test a few things with his new company car beforehand. That’s probably why the German had a hard time qualifying for the race in St. Petersburg and couldn’t get past 21st place on the grid. Starting from the eleventh row of the grid, Schumacher was unable to escape the battles for position in the first few kilometers.
Schumacher also had bad luck with serious accidents several times in his two Formula 1 years in 2021 and 2022. The US team Haas eventually parted ways with him. After a year as a reserve driver at Mercedes, Schumacher completed two years for Alpine racing in the World Endurance Championship, where he also took part in the classic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Now he is hoping for new successes in the IndyCar Series. There will be a new opportunity for Schumacher next weekend at the Phoenix Raceway in Arizona.
