Mick Schumacher to sample IndyCar with RLL as Ralf issues stark warning
Mick Schumacher is finally getting a taste of IndyCar. The 26-year-old will climb into a Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing machine for a one-day test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on October 13 — his first laps in America’s top single-seater series and, perhaps, a signpost toward what’s next.
It’s been a long, strange wait since Haas cut him loose after 2022. Schumacher pivoted into a reserve role with Mercedes while keeping his race sharpness in the World Endurance Championship with Alpine, where he’s visited the podium and reminded people that racecraft doesn’t evaporate just because the F1 carousel spins on without you. Still, he’s never pretended anything else: the target has always been Formula 1.
But that door hasn’t opened. Despite frequent links up and down the grid in recent seasons, nothing materialised. In 2025, the driver market skews young and hungry — and brutally unforgiving. So Schumacher is doing what most racers with a pulse and a point to prove do: he’s going where there’s a fast car, fresh feedback and a chance to reset a narrative.
“I am very much looking forward to driving my first IndyCar test,” Mick said, thanking Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the opportunity and noting the extra personal resonance of turning laps at Indianapolis, where his father once raced. “It is not a secret that I am a big fan of single-seater racing… 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.”
That last line is classic racer — a wink at IndyCar’s rawer appeal compared to modern F1. And it’s not lost on anyone that IndyCar can be a career in its own right, not just a detour.
Not everyone is giddy with anticipation, though. Ralf Schumacher — uncle, ex-F1 race winner and never one to mince words — is uneasy about the move. He’s voiced safety concerns about IndyCar in general and questioned what Mick would gain if an F1 return is still the target.
“To be honest, I haven’t spoken to him myself,” Ralf told Sky Deutschland, “but he was apparently quoted as saying that his heart is burning for motorsport and single-seater cars, and that’s why he’s so keen to try it out. I don’t really understand that, because I believe he’s in great hands where he is now and can have a great future.
“It’s not so easy for people from IndyCar to make the transition to Formula 1… if you go over there, it’s a bit like Japan – the standard is still high, so it won’t be that easy to succeed in America. And that’s why it’s an additional pressure that perhaps you don’t need to put yourself under.” He added, bluntly, that if it were his son David considering the same path, he’d “honestly resist it because it would simply be too dangerous.”
It’s a familiar split-screen: Europe’s F1 orbit can be suspicious of IndyCar’s value as a pathway back, and the spectre of high-speed ovals continues to colour perception — even if Mick’s first taste is on the IMS road course, not the Speedway’s fearsome four corners. The danger is real everywhere; the trade-offs are different.
From the driver’s side, there’s a practical logic to all this. Testing with RLL lets Schumacher feel the car, the tyres, the weight transfer, the lack of power steering — all the peculiarities that make IndyCar such a driver’s championship. It also lets a team see, in real time, how he adapts. You don’t need to promise a race seat to learn plenty in a day.
It’s also worth remembering how quickly reputations can be remade. The European ladder doesn’t always reward late bloomers. IndyCar, on the other hand, tends to have a shorter memory and a longer list of winners. If Schumacher likes it, and if the lap data likes him back, the conversation changes.
There’s a human bit to this story, too. Schumacher’s career has carried a surname with gravity few could shoulder. That brings opportunity and scrutiny in equal measure. Taking control — picking a car, a series, a new benchmark — can be its own kind of agency. It’s not a resignation letter to F1. It’s a driver seeking momentum.
Ralf’s concerns shouldn’t be dismissed; they come from experience and a protective instinct that’s understandable. But they also underline a choice every driver faces when the F1 calendar keeps turning without them: wait on the pit wall, or go race something that bites back.
On October 13, Mick Schumacher will strap into an Indy car and find out what’s what. No promises. No PR safety net once the pit limiter clicks off. Just a track, a team, and a driver who refuses to let his story be written by other people.
We’ll see how loud the lap time speaks.
