Mick Schumacher has now completed his first laps on an oval in preparation for his rookie IndyCar season, and his early impressions are very positive.
On Wednesday, Schumacher spent a day testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, about 30 miles south of downtown Miami in the state of Florida. It was a purely private test by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) - the team for which Schumacher will be one of three full-time drivers in the 2026 IndyCar season.
In the Rahal Honda, which is currently still painted completely black with Schumacher's number 47, his experienced teammate Graham Rahal first went out in the morning to ensure that the car's setup was suitable for the track conditions. With relatively heavy cloud cover at the start of the day, which cleared up somewhat as the day progressed, the air temperature in Homestead on Wednesday was in the range of 20 to 23 degrees Celsius (68 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit).
Can’t beat this view 😏 pic.twitter.com/AEI74fIxC3
— Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (@RLLracing) February 4, 2026
Since 2011, IndyCar teams have only used the Homestead oval for test drives, as is now the case with RLL for the first oval test in Schumacher's IndyCar career. The rookie took over the car immediately after the shakedown carried out by Rahal.
Apart from Rahal, Ryan Briscoe was also on site at the RLL private test on Wednesday to provide Schumacher with advice and support. The former IndyCar driver from Australia was hired a few days ago by the team of Bobby Rahal, David Letterman , and Mike Lanigan as a driver coach, specifically for Schumacher.
Mick Schumacher's verdict after his first laps on the oval
Live from Homestead 🟢 pic.twitter.com/75OUxrzy2J
— Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (@RLLracing) February 4, 2026
In a short video statement posted on RLL's social media channels on Wednesday during the test day, Schumacher said that the test had gone well so far, noting that "we've completed a lot of laps."
According to Schumacher, there were also "a couple setup changes here and there to improve what we had."
With these words, the IndyCar rookie from Germany said goodbye for the afternoon. According to Schumacher, the team's goal for the second half of the test day was to 'tick off a few more things on our list.'
What can clearly be seen on Schumacher's face and heard in his words at the end of the video statement is that he really enjoyed driving an IndyCar on an oval track. "It's fun. Stay tuned."
"Well on the way" to becoming an oval driver
A little later, Schumacher elaborated: "The biggest difference to a normal race track is definitely that you enter a corner here without braking. For me, that was something I had to get used to first."
"Having the feeling that, okay, I can throw the car into the corner without taking my foot off the gas was, of course, something that was completely new to me, but I got comfortable with it relatively quickly and didn't have any major problems with it," said the IndyCar rookie. In general, he says he "still has a lot to learn on an oval." But he also assures us: "I'm on the right track."
"Hopefully we'll see you soon, definitely in St. Pete," Schumacher said in his first social media video, referring to the 2026 IndyCar season opener on March 1 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
St. Petersburg is one of six city races on the 2026 IndyCar calendar. Apart from that, there are six races on permanent circuits and six oval races. However, as already mentioned, Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Schumacher tested on Wednesday, does not appear on the race calendar anymore.
What lies ahead
After his first successful oval test, Schumacher has two more test drives ahead of him before the IndyCar season opener.
Next Monday and Tuesday (February 9/10), all teams will test on the short circuit at Sebring International Raceway. This traditional winter test serves primarily as preparation for city races, because city circuits are often similarly uneven to the permanent circuit in Sebring.
And the following week, on Tuesday and Wednesday (February 17/18), the final oval test before the start of the season will take place at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona, also with all teams present.
Phoenix Raceway is a one-mile oval that is making its comeback on the IndyCar calendar this year. The last race there was in 2018. This year, Phoenix is scheduled as the second race of the season on March 7. It is the first of six oval races on the 2026 IndyCar calendar.
Just eight days after Phoenix, on March 15, Schumacher will compete in what he himself describes as his "mini home race" on the brand-new street circuit in Arlington, Texas.
Article translated from German
