– Mick Schumacher (RLL-Honda; 11th) made it into an IndyCar Q2 for the first time during qualifying in Markham. Due to a penalty against Alexander Rossi (ECR-Chevrolet; 8th) for an early engine change, the son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher will start the race from tenth position. (IndyCar Markham 2026 starting grid)
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This is the first time Schumacher has made it past Q1 outside of oval tracks, where there are no qualifying segments. He finished fourth in the second group among the top six, reaching the “Fast Twelve” round.
The Q1 session in the second group was extremely turbulent because Will Power (Andretti-Honda) spun two minutes before the end. At that time, not all drivers had completed their fast laps, but Schumacher had. Therefore, he stayed in the pits during the final showdown.
Photo gallery: Mick Schumacher’s results in the 2026 IndyCar season
Several drivers now had to try to get into the top six with only one warm-up lap (two would have been preferred for tire warming). Josef Newgarden (Penske-Chevrolet; 25th) crashed and caused another red flag. Among others, street circuit specialist Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti-Honda; 16th) was eliminated.
Schumacher made it into Q2, where there was another interruption. This time it was the completely unexpected IndyCar dominator Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda; 12th) who made a rare driving error and triggered the red flag.
This time Schumacher was the victim, as he had not yet set a fast time. The reason was that his tire was not properly secured, and he had to come back in after one lap to have it tightened.
This time all drivers had two fast laps after the interruption. But Schumacher’s team made a timing error, as he finished his timed lap almost exactly as the time expired and could not start a second attempt, which in many cases was faster.
He was thus pushed back to tenth place, although Q3 was within reach. So there remains a slightly bitter aftertaste.
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Foster on pole for the second time
This is shown not least by the fact that teammate Louis Foster (RLL-Honda; 1st) took pole position, the second of his career after Elkhart Lake 2025. Foster was really fast all Saturday and even a little faster than Schumacher, who also had to yield to Graham Rahal (RLL-Honda; 10th) due to the timing error.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is as competitive this weekend as never before this season, and there is a huge chance for Schumacher and his teammates to achieve a strong result on Sunday. (This was already evident in the free practice sessions)
Foster was in a class of his own in Q3 and drove two laps that would have been enough for pole. Ultimately, his lead was an incredible 0.397 seconds over Christian Lundgaard (McLaren-Chevrolet; 2nd), who surprisingly brought McLaren into the front row after the team had struggled to find pace all day.
Another surprise, which had already been hinted at, was Dennis Hauger (Coyne-Honda; 5th). He also adapted very well to the track, while some big names struggled. Both Meyer-Shank Hondas were eliminated in Q1.
Photo gallery: Mick Schumacher’s car designs in the 2026 IndyCar season
Also Caio Collet, who was very strong in the practice sessions and considered a pole candidate, had to swallow a bitter pill: after his crash in the second free practice, his crew apparently made a mistake during the hasty rebuild of the car, causing the Brazilian to run out of fuel.
Thus, a heavily mixed-up field goes into the 90 laps on Sunday. Will Mick Schumacher be able to improve his best result in the IndyCar series? Or will the feared mass crash occur? The answer will be given from 18:22 CEST when the race starts.
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