Mick Schumacher continued his impressive IndyCar progress at the Milwaukee Mile by securing fourth place on the grid for Sunday’s race, confirming himself as one of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s most competitive drivers on the short oval. The former Ferrari Driver Academy member had already attracted attention with his qualifying performance at Phoenix and has now delivered another strong result in a discipline that demands a very different skill set from Formula 1.
The German driver recorded the 13th-fastest time for the first race of the Milwaukee weekend before producing a significantly stronger performance for Sunday’s event. Two clean qualifying runs put Mick Schumacher on the second row, behind only Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden.
Mick Schumacher impresses again in IndyCar qualifying at Milwaukee
Mick Schumacher built his result with two particularly clean runs and even managed to improve on his second lap, something that is far from guaranteed on an oval. His first attempt came at 162.344 mph before he raised the benchmark to 163.244 mph on the following lap.
For a few minutes, the performance even created the possibility of an even more remarkable result. Initially, only Josef Newgarden managed to move ahead of Schumacher, while several other drivers struggled to reproduce the same effectiveness on their second qualifying run.
Schumacher nevertheless kept his expectations under control.
“It’s nice to think about pole, even though I’ll probably have to wait a little longer. The car didn’t feel perfect to me, so the fact that we still managed to produce such a competitive second lap is really positive,” Mick Schumacher said.
The result represents another significant step in a career that has taken the German from Formula 2 and Formula 1 into IndyCar. Schumacher spent four years as part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, joining Maranello’s junior programme in 2019 before the former Ferrari junior progressed into Formula 1 with Haas. Ferrari and Schumacher ended their collaboration at the conclusion of 2022.
Former Ferrari junior beats both RLL teammates
The Milwaukee result becomes even more impressive when compared with Schumacher’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates. Mick Schumacher will start Sunday’s race from fourth, ahead of Louis Foster in sixth and Graham Rahal in 19th.
That internal comparison provides another indication of how quickly the former Ferrari Academy driver is adapting to IndyCar’s oval racing demands. His background with Ferrari included two Formula 2 seasons as an Academy member, the 2020 Formula 2 championship and time behind the wheel of Ferrari Formula 1 machinery before his graduation to the top category. Ferrari also used Schumacher as one of its reserve drivers during the 2022 Formula 1 season.
ScuderiaFans readers may also remember his outings in Ferrari machinery at Fiorano, including the period when Mick Schumacher drove the Ferrari SF71H during private running. His current IndyCar campaign represents a very different chapter, but his performances at Phoenix and Milwaukee suggest he is becoming increasingly comfortable with oval racing.
Mick Schumacher targets important points at Milwaukee
After securing fourth for Sunday, Schumacher believes the starting position creates a genuine opportunity to score valuable points, while he has not given up on making progress from 13th in the first race either.
“We can use this opportunity to bring home some important points. We have more ground to make up in the first race, but even there I think the situation is far from compromised,” Mick Schumacher added.
The pole position for Sunday’s race eventually went to Alex Palou, with Pato O’Ward second and Josef Newgarden third. Schumacher will line up immediately behind them in fourth, giving Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing a car on the second row.
Schumacher’s oval progress becomes harder to ignore
It is another second-row appearance on a short oval for Mick Schumacher and another indication that his adaptation to IndyCar is gathering momentum. Oval racing presents challenges that were largely absent from his Formula 1 career, from traffic management and changing grip levels to the precision required when running at high speed close to the walls.
That makes his ability to produce two strong Milwaukee qualifying laps particularly notable. Improving on the second run while other competitors struggled reinforced the impression that Schumacher is becoming increasingly comfortable with the characteristics of this type of circuit.
For Ferrari supporters, there remains a familiar connection. Schumacher was part of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2019 through 2022, a period that included his Formula 2 title, his Formula 1 debut and numerous kilometres with Ferrari machinery. His path has since moved away from Maranello and Formula 1, but his Milwaukee performance shows that the former Ferrari junior is continuing to build a new chapter in his racing career.
Sunday’s fourth-place starting position now gives Mick Schumacher the chance to convert that qualifying speed into a significant IndyCar result. With Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden directly ahead, the Milwaukee race will provide another important measure of just how far his oval development has progressed.
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