IndyCar Laguna Seca: Mick Schumacher dropped out after four stops

– Mick Schumacher finished last in the lead lap with a large gap in the final race of his rookie season in the IndyCar series.

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The season finale at Laguna Seca Raceway near Monterey in the US state of California was Schumacher’s last outing in the service of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL). A four-stop strategy differing from most of the field with pit stops in laps 17, 33, 48, 70 did not work out for him.

After P15 in qualifying, which became starting position 13 on the grid due to grid penalties (Caio Collet and Marcus Ericsson), Schumacher drove just outside the top 10 in the early phase of the race. However, the four-stop strategy chosen for the 95-lap distance ultimately set him back so far that he did not get beyond 22nd place.

Photo gallery: Mick Schumacher’s results in the 2026 IndyCar season

Before the start of the season finale, Schumacher, who will race for Meyer Shank Racing in 2027, still had a small chance to become the highest-scoring rookie of 2026. However, this did not materialize for him despite an early retirement of Dennis Hauger (Coyne-Honda), nor for Caio Collet (Foyt-Chevrolet), the third rookie in the 25-driver field of regular IndyCar drivers in 2026.

Dennis Hauger wins rookie classification despite retirement

Dennis Hauger, who came to Laguna Seca as the leader in the rookie classification with an 18-point lead over Mick Schumacher, started only from P24 after a tough qualifying and thus second to last. The race got even worse.

In the very first lap, Hauger was taken out by Sting Ray Robb (Juncos-Chevrolet) approaching turn 6 and was out of the race. Robb received a ten-second stop-and-hold penalty but continued the race otherwise. He finally finished second to last in P23, one lap down.

“The guy behind me must have closed his eyes for a moment,” Hauger shrugged after his early retirement through no fault of his own when interviewed by the TV station Fox. At that time, the Norwegian did not yet know that about two hours later he would secure both the rookie title and the crucial 22nd place in the Leaders Circle.

Caio Collet, who came to the season finale third in the rookie classification with a 30-point deficit, finished the race in P20 after a grid penalty due to an engine change (starting position 18), two positions ahead of Schumacher, but this was not enough for the Brazilian to surpass the German in points.

Scott McLaughlin ends two-year drought

Polesitter Scott McLaughlin (Penske-Chevrolet) won the start ahead of titleholder Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda), who started next to him from row 1. Apart from the early first yellow phase due to the collision between Dennis Hauger and Sting Ray Robb in the first lap, the 95-lap race ran under green.

McLaughlin controlled the race at will and only briefly gave up the lead during his three routine pit stops.

Alex Palou fell back after the first stint and was the first in the race to opt for a four-stop strategy. This backfired for the five-time IndyCar champion as well as for Mick Schumacher.

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Palou still finished in P8, which is a disappointment for him on his declared favorite track. Nevertheless, the champion Palou did not miss the donuts after crossing the finish line together with winner McLaughlin.

For Scott McLaughlin, who won the race convincingly, a drought of 35 winless races has thus ended. His last win was in the 2024 season at the Sunday race of the double-header in Milwaukee. Now, a little more than two years later, he has finally made it back to Victory Lane – for the first time since the birth of his daughter Lucy in October 2024.

Kyle Kirkwood takes runner-up title – Alex Rossi on the podium

Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti-Honda) secured second place both in the race and in the final 2026 IndyCar overall standings. In the fight for the runner-up title, he overtook Christian Lundgaard (McLaren-Chevrolet).

Lundgaard started the race from P11 after a grid penalty and finished in P6. This was enough for the Dane in his last race as a McLaren driver to secure third place in the standings ahead of teammate Patricio “Pato” O’Ward, but he narrowly lost out to Kirkwood on points.

Alexander Rossi (Carpenter-Chevrolet) finished third in the race. This is his first podium since Laguna Seca 2024. Back then, he still drove for McLaren. Since joining Ed Carpenter’s team at the start of the 2025 season, Rossi had not made it back to the podium until now, which he achieved at the 2026 season finale.

Scott Dixon (Ganassi-Honda) finished his last race after 25 years in the service of Chip Ganassi Racing from starting position 16 in P17 (Result: IndyCar season finale 2026 in Laguna Seca).

Six months winter break until the 2027 season opener

Thus, the 2026 IndyCar season is in the books. The champion in the drivers’ standings is Alex Palou, for the fifth time in just six years. Only two drivers have won more IndyCar titles than the just 29-year-old Spaniard: Scott Dixon with six and record holder A.J. Foyt with seven. In the engine classification, Honda is the 2026 titleholder. Dennis Hauger prevailed in the rookie classification (IndyCar overall standings 2026 after 18 of 18 races).

The 2027 IndyCar season begins on March 7 on the street circuit in St. Petersburg (Florida). So far, only the first eight race dates of the new season have been officially announced. The complete IndyCar calendar for 2027 is expected in the coming weeks.

Besides that, there will be one or two driver announcements in the coming weeks and months. However, most of the cockpits for 2027 are already assigned. The most spectacular change is that of Scott Dixon. The six-time IndyCar champion is switching sides after a quarter of a century at Chip Ganassi Racing and will race for McLaren in 2027.

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