– 19th place and 0.716 seconds behind – that is Mick Schumacher’s (RLL-Honda) first result in Portland. On the track, which is only 3.166 kilometers long, times of less than a minute are achieved, resulting in 23 of the 24 cars that started finishing within one second. Dennis Hauger (Coyne-Honda) did not set a time due to telemetry problems. (Result of the 1st Free Practice)
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After eighth place in Nashville, this may initially look like a setback, because unlike other teams, Schumacher did not test in Portland. Instead, RLL prepared for the season finale at Laguna Seca Raceway in five weeks. During this time, IndyCar will hold six races starting with Portland.
However, Schumacher had a session in the simulator and was thus able to prepare for the race weekend. “Ultimately, in the IndyCar series, it always comes down to having a good starting setup that you don’t have to change too much. That already worked in Nashville.”
The start was initially cautious; Schumacher finished the 40-minute session for all vehicles in last place. During the group phase, the German, who was allowed to compete as a rookie in both groups, gradually improved and even briefly appeared in second place in his group.
“It’s quite a tricky track,” Schumacher says about Portland International Raceway. “In some places, it’s bumpy, in others quite smooth, like in the triple right-hand corner, followed by a left and another right corner – that requires a lot of finesse. So you have to link these corners very well to get the best out of the track.”
The 27-year-old is once again running with the design of Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Portland, which already brought him his best career result in Nashville.
This is a globally leading biopharmaceutical company, appearing as a sponsor in motorsport for the first time ever. Schumacher is advertising the travel tablet Nereus (Tradipitant).
Will Power causes radio laughter
The fastest time on Friday was once again set by champion Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda; 1st) in 58.571 seconds, closely followed by Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti-Honda; 2nd) and a sensationally strong Rinus VeeKay (Juncos-Chevrolet; 3rd).
Schumacher’s teammate Louis Foster (RLL-Honda; 5th) attracted attention with a strong lap time. Schumacher and Graham Rahal (RLL-Honda; 17th) are likely very interested in his data.
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While Kyffin Simpson (Ganassi-Honda; 6th) indicates strong form from Ganassi in Portland, McLaren was disappointing across the board. Christian Lundgaard (McLaren-Chevrolet; 22nd), a two-time winner this year, did not even make the top 20. ECR also does not look good with 16th (Rasmussen) and 24th (Rossi).
The sequence of incidents was opened by Romain Grosjean (Coyne-Honda; 23rd) with a harmless spin exiting turn 7.
The chicane at turns 1 and 2 was again the main error hotspot this time. Marcus Armstrong (MSR-Honda; 14th) started with a rather strong hit on the guardrail. Miraculously, he only suffered tire damage; the suspension withstood the impact.
Later, Patricio “Pato” O’Ward (McLaren-Chevrolet; 15th) followed suit. He hit the wall with his right front wheel and even spun. All incidents occurred during the 40-minute collective session. This was stopped three minutes before the end with a red flag due to debris on the track.
The group sessions ran without interruption, but O’Ward drove quite spectacularly through the chicane several times during the group phase. McLaren has a lot of setup work ahead.
The biggest laugh of the day was once again caused by Will Power (Andretti-Honda; 4th), who was surprised by an alarm on his steering wheel and braked too late in turn 1, but without crashing. The subsequent radio communication with his engineer Ron Ruzewski caused amusement.
“I had an alarm on my steering wheel in turn 1, no idea what it was. Water pressure or something.” – “Okay, that goes away when you press the OK button.” – “Oh, I didn’t even know there was an OK button!” Reminder: Even though Will Power is in his first season with Andretti Global, we are at race 13. That did not stop the 2024 and 2025 winner from announcing his ambitions for a hat-trick with fourth place.
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The second free practice begins on Saturday at 7 p.m. CEST. Since Portland is on the West Coast with a nine-hour time difference to Europe, qualifying only starts at 1 a.m. (All information about the IndyCar race in Portland)
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