– Third group qualifying, third exit in Q1: Mick Schumacher also failed to get past the first hurdle in IndyCar qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park. This time, only 0,093 seconds were missing – a value that is easily lost on a lap. (Starting grid)
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“Qualifying didn’t go quite as cleanly as I had hoped,” Schumacher summarized after the session in Alabama. According to the 27-year-old, the main problem was the timing of the tire performance: “We didn’t manage to make optimal use of the tires on the first flying lap. In the second lap, the car then became a bit unsettled.” (Start time and all info on the IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park)
Particularly painful was a small mistake in the hairpin, Turn 5. His Dallara-Honda suddenly broke away there and Schumacher had to counter-steer several times. “We definitely left a few tenths of a second there. Considering that the tires were actually already past their peak at that point, it is still positive that we were so close to advancing,” he says about it.
Photo gallery: Mick Schumacher’s results in the 2026 IndyCar season
In fact, qualifying was a step forward, because not only was Schumacher only fractions of a second away from the saving sixth place in his qualifying group. The group was also exceptionally difficult because there were seven “heavyweights” in it.
While Schumacher will start from far back on Sunday, there is celebration on the other side of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) garage. Graham Rahal made the jump into the second row of the grid and could thus take the first podium for RLL in Birmingham since Takuma Sato’s victory in 2019. Rahal drove in the “easier” first group.
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“As a team, we can be really proud of what Graham achieved today. He did a fantastic job and I’m very happy for him,” Schumacher says appreciatively. “He has a great race car, seems very confident and clearly feels comfortable. Hopefully we can catch up to him in the race.”
IndyCar Birmingham 2026: Qualifying Highlights
For Schumacher, the Grand Prix of Alabama is a premiere in two senses: it is his first appearance at Barber Motorsports Park and at the same time his very first race on a permanent road course in the IndyCar series. So far, an 18th place as his best result and a fourth starting position (both at the oval event in Phoenix 2026) are in his statistics.
Schumacher is nevertheless taking a pragmatic approach to the challenge on Sunday: “In the race, you never know what will happen until you’re in the middle of the action. We’ll take it step by step and hopefully we’ll be there when it counts.”
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