Big IndyCar time check: How fast Mick Schumacher really was

– After four races in the IndyCar series, Mick Schumacher has an 18th place from Phoenix as his best result to date, is last in the overall standings with 31 points, and is also behind among the rookies. Of course, the numbers only tell half the story.

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So far, Mick Schumacher has actually only taken himself out of contention in one race, namely in Arlington. In all other races, external factors played a role: an accident through no fault of his own in St. Petersburg, a botched pit stop in Phoenix, and a questionable tire strategy in Birmingham (Barber Motorsports Park).

What do Mick Schumacher’s race times in the IndyCar series tell us? Of course, we don’t have race times from St. Petersburg because Schumacher only made it four corners. In the other races, however, he completed the entire race distance.

So we are looking at the 60 percent fastest race laps from the races in Phoenix, Arlington, and Birmingham to answer the question of how fast Mick Schumacher has driven in the races so far.

Phoenix: Every oval beginning is difficult

With a sensational fourth place on the grid, the son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher probably raised expectations a bit too high. He attributed this success to childlike lightheartedness on the oval; after all, as the first driver in qualifying, he had nothing to lose.

In the race, he was quickly dropped to tenth place at the start, where he then stabilized. The botched pit stop due to a defective impact wrench then threw him off the lead lap. Although a driver is allowed to defend against being lapped by the leader, they are no longer allowed to do so against other drivers. Therefore, he had to let drivers pass again and again.

Average times best 150 laps Phoenix Raceway:
1. Pato O’Ward – 23,2924 seconds
2. Christian Rasmussen – 23,3151
3. Josef Newgarden – 23,3283
…
20. Mick Schumacher – 23,7539

The complete tables can be found at the end of the article. IndyCar calculates with four decimal places.

In this statistic, Schumacher still left his fellow rookie Caio Collet and Sting Ray Robb behind. Alex Palou and Louis Foster retired so early that they do not appear in this statistic.

Overall, this leaves Mick Schumacher in third-to-last place in terms of lap times. Given the strong qualifying performance and the promising first laps, this is a slightly sobering result, even considering the fact that he was lapped.

Arlington: Missed Opportunity

Mick Schumacher was among a few drivers in the field who were gambling on a yellow flag. They did get one, but only at the very end of the race, when it no longer helped them. Schumacher and a few other drivers therefore came into the pits again in the final laps to get fresh tires.

As a result, they had a car essentially in qualifying trim and would look better in the pure average statistics than they actually were. Therefore, we only looked at the first 60 laps of the race to correct for this third variable. But even so, Schumacher looks stronger than in Phoenix.

Average times best 36 laps Streets of Arlington (Laps 1-60):
1. Kyle Kirkwood – 1:35.4578 minutes
2. Alex Palou – 1:35.7667
3. Marcus Ericsson – 1:35.7833
…
14. Mick Schumacher – 1:36.3436

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After all, Schumacher leaves an average of eleven cars behind him. Of course, due to his early drive-through penalty, he had a lot of clear track, while other cars were involved in battles. Nevertheless, the collision is doubly annoying because, in terms of pure speed, Arlington was the race where Mick Schumacher could have achieved the most in terms of pace.

Barber: Strategy leaves its mark

The strange strategy of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) to send him out three times on the disadvantageous soft tires is also noticeable in the average time. Schumacher only reaches third-to-last place in the statistics.

Average times best 49 laps Barber Motorsports Park:
1. Alex Palou – 1:09.3053 minutes
2. Christian Lundgaard – 1:09.3839
3. Graham Rahal – 1:09.4228
…
23. Mick Schumacher – 1:10.1779

Only Louis Foster and Sting Ray Robb were slower than Schumacher. Nevertheless, Robb finished ahead of Schumacher because Mick apparently stalled the engine during a pit stop, which the cameras did not capture.

In general, the times at Barber Motorsports Park largely correspond to the final positions because the race went off without a hitch and overtaking on the track in Alabama is traditionally difficult. If Mick Schumacher had made it into Q2, the race could have gone very differently. But he narrowly failed, even though he had an extremely difficult group in Q1.

Conclusion: Room for improvement

Overall, the Arlington race remains the one that gives some hope regarding Mick Schumacher’s speed. In the other two races, he was in the back of the field.

The times also show how close the IndyCar series is. From first to last, there is less than a second in the average times. Fractions of a second can mean entire rows on the grid in qualifying.

And there is still potential here: it’s not much that Mick Schumacher is missing. And as a rookie, he has far more development potential than long-established drivers. His example also impressively shows how difficult it has become to enter America’s top formula series.

Appendix: Complete tables

Phoenix

1. 5 – O’Ward, Pato – 23,2924 seconds
2. 21 – Rasmussen, Christian – 23,3151
3. 2 – Newgarden, Josef – 23,3283
4. 27 – Kirkwood, Kyle – 23,3360
5. 12 – Malukas, David – 23,3479
6. 20 – Rossi, Alexander – 23,3800
7. 26 – Power, Will – 23,4290
8. 15 – Rahal, Graham – 23,4314
9. 3 – McLaughlin, Scott – 23,4433
10. 66 – Armstrong, Marcus – 23,5015
11. 9 – Dixon, Scott – 23,5264
12. 7 – Lundgaard, Christian – 23,6237
13. 14 – Ferrucci, Santino – 23,6310
14. 60 – Rosenqvist, Felix – 23,6595
15. 19 – Hauger, Dennis (R) – 23,6840
16. 76 – VeeKay, Rinus – 23,6875
17. 28 – Ericsson, Marcus – 23,6877
18. 8 – Simpson, Kyffin – 23,6910
19. 6 – Siegel, Nolan – 23,7327
20. 47 – Schumacher, Mick (R) – 23,7539
21. 77 – Robb, Sting Ray – 23,8352
22. 4 – Collet, Caio (R) – 23,8734

Arlington

1. 27 – Kirkwood, Kyle – 1:35.4578 minutes
2. 10 – Palou, Alex – 1:35.7667
3. 28 – Ericsson, Marcus – 1:35.7833
4. 5 – O’Ward, Pato – 1:35.9509
5. 9 – Dixon, Scott – 1:35.9782
6. 8 – Simpson, Kyffin – 1:36.0095
7. 12 – Malukas, David – 1:36.0671
8. 7 – Lundgaard, Christian – 1:36.1072
9. 66 – Armstrong, Marcus – 1:36.1808
10. 26 – Power, Will – 1:36.2102
11. 6 – Siegel, Nolan – 1:36.2343
12. 4 – Collet, Caio (R) – 1:36.2674
13. 19 – Hauger, Dennis (R) – 1:36.3143
14. 47 – Schumacher, Mick (R) – 1:36.3436
15. 45 – Foster, Louis – 1:36.3616
16. 76 – VeeKay, Rinus – 1:36.3885
17. 60 – Rosenqvist, Felix – 1:36.4157
18. 15 – Rahal, Graham – 1:36.4562
19. 3 – McLaughlin, Scott – 1:36.4767
20. 18 – Grosjean, Romain – 1:36.4880
21. 14 – Ferrucci, Santino – 1:36.5182
22. 2 – Newgarden, Josef – 1:36.5683
23. 20 – Rossi, Alexander – 1:36.6178
24. 21 – Rasmussen, Christian – 1:36.6286
25. 77 – Robb, Sting Ray – 1:36.7425

Birmingham

1. 10 – Palou, Alex – 1:09.3053 minutes
2. 7 – Lundgaard, Christian – 1:09.3839
3. 15 – Rahal, Graham – 1:09.4228
4. 12 – Malukas, David – 1:09.5990
5. 27 – Kirkwood, Kyle – 1:09.6262
6. 66 – Armstrong, Marcus – 1:09.6568
7. 9 – Dixon, Scott – 1:09.6801
8. 14 – Ferrucci, Santino – 1:09.8180
9. 76 – VeeKay, Rinus – 1:09.8427
10. 28 – Ericsson, Marcus – 1:09.8485
11. 18 – Grosjean, Romain – 1:09.8808
12. 26 – Power, Will – 1:09.8977
13. 2 – Newgarden, Josef – 1:09.9160
14. 20 – Rossi, Alexander – 1:09.9329
15. 3 – McLaughlin, Scott – 1:09.9894
16. 5 – O’Ward, Pato – 1:09.9927
17. 8 – Simpson, Kyffin – 1:10.0076
18. 6 – Siegel, Nolan – 1:10.0127
19. 60 – Rosenqvist, Felix – 1:10.0179
20. 4 – Collet, Caio (R) – 1:10.0250
21. 21 – Rasmussen, Christian – 1:10.1198
22. 19 – Hauger, Dennis (R) – 1:10.1686
23. 47 – Schumacher, Mick (R) – 1:10.1779
24. 45 – Foster, Louis – 1:10.2078
25. 77 – Robb, Sting Ray – 1:10.2113

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