By Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
After short stints in Formula 1 and the World Endurance Championship, Mick Schumacher is making the switch over to IndyCar for 2026.
The 26 year-old son of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, makes the jump stateside after three seasons in F1 and two seasons with Alpine in WEC competition. Mick also won the 2018 Formula 3 and 2020 Formula 2 titles on his journey to F1. Mick managed to score 12 points in his F1 stint with Haas and scored three podiums in WEC.
Schumacher signs on with Rahal Letterman-Lanigan Racing, piloting the No. 47 Honda, in an announcement on Monday. Schumacher got his first taste of IndyCar machinery in a test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on October 13.
“Very exciting news. So excited we got it out early, so really good,” Schumacher said. “I think we’re all very keen to get the season going. I think there’s plenty of work still to be done to get me up to speed, but I believe that’s why everything has gone so smoothly already in the first test that I’m sure there will be no problem getting that going, as well.”
Mick will join a re-vamped RLL team, driving alongside IndyCar veteran Graham Rahal and 2025 Rookie of the Year, Louis Foster. Schumacher replaces the existing Devlin DeFrancesco, who in his only season with RLL, finished 26th in the driver standings. DeFrancesco’s future in IndyCar is up for speculation as he was announced on a “multi-year” contract at the beginning of 2025.
RLL co-owner, Bobby Rahal held high praise for Mick following the test in October, going as far to say that the 2026 lineup is the “strongest we’ve ever had as a three-car team”.
“We did the test, as everyone knows, and it went very, very well,” Rahal said. “Everybody was just so impressed with Mick, not just his pace and all that, but his persona, his humility. Just the way he went about his work was really impressive to people within our organization. I think that was a big reason why we worked hard to try to put all this together. I’m really thrilled because I think between Mick, Graham and Louis, we’ve got three strong players, probably the three strongest we’ve ever had as a three-car team at least. I feel very good about our future together and just really pleased to welcome Mick into the organization, and I know it’s going to be a successful experience for everyone.”
Sponsorship for the No.47 Honda has not been formally announced, but one could point towards DropLight donning the sidepods of the car in 2026. DropLight featured on Schumacher’s car in October and the venture studio announced a mulit-year partnership with RLL on October 27.
The team plans to give Mick seven test sessions across the offseason, according to RLL Team President Jay Frye.
“It’s probably going to be four oval tests, two road courses and then one street course, which will be Sebring,” Frye said. “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.”
The 2026 IndyCar season kicks off in three-and-a-half months at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 1, when Schumacher makes his official debut in the IndyCar competition.