Mick Schumacher open to 'commit fully' to IndyCar; tops first test session at IMS

Former F1 driver Mick Schumacher completed his first IndyCar test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on October 13, 2025. The German spoke with the media after the test and suggested that he's open to fully commit to IndyCar as he topped the timing sheets.

Mick Schumacher was announced as Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s test driver for the post-season IndyCar test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With the season over, teams participate in these tests to gauge what a driver might be capable of and if they're worth signing. At the same time, it gives a driver the idea of whether they want to make a move to the American open-wheel racing series.

The German won the F2 championship and signed with the Haas F1 team before being sacked just a couple of years later. He then joined Mercedes as a reserve before joining Alpine's WEC program. With Schumacher participating in the IndyCar test at the IMS, reports of him making a move to the American series have started circling the paddock.

Michael Schumacher's son was open to the idea of joining the series. During the post-test media session, Mick Schumacher was questioned on whether he would be racing at the ovals. The oval racing, especially the Superspeedways, includes a huge risk given the speed at which the cars go. The German suggested that if he were to join the series, he'd fully commit to it and would race on the ovals as well. He said,

“I think I might as well. You know that’s what the championship is about and I think it would be wrong to say that, ‘Okay, I'm just going to do one part of it.’ If I were to commit, I'd commit to it fully.”

According to Motorsport reporter Nathan Brown, Mick Schumacher topped the unofficial timing charts after the three-hour test session with a time of 1:11.78, a time which was just over a second and a half away from Devlin DeFrancesco's qualifying lap time at the IMS Road Course race earlier this year. DeFrancesco qualified P5 with a lap time of 01:09.9432.

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Mick Schumacher can possibly replace Devlin DeFrancesco at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Devlin DeFrancesco signed a two-year contract with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in December 2024, which would've seen him race with the team until the end of the 2026 season. However, as per the reports, there is likely a performance-based clause in his contract, which the Canadian failed to fulfill.

DeFrancesco finished P26, the second last driver from the full-time list, and failed to make the winner's circle. With Mick Schumacher testing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, it is likely that the German can replace the Canadian at Bobby Rahal's team.

Before the test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Mick Schumacher had his seat fitting done, raced in the IndyCar on the simulator, and attended multiple sessions to understand the intricacies before taking to the track on Monday morning.

Edited by Pranay Bhagi