IndyCar Arlington 2026: Mick Schumacher greatly improved in FP2

– After a rather sluggish start on Friday, Mick Schumacher (RLL-Honda; 14th) was wide awake in the second practice session on Saturday morning local time. He was in the mix in the top 10 of the session from the start and ultimately finished the dress rehearsal before qualifying in 14th place as the fastest driver for his team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and as the best rookie. (Result)

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It is a significant improvement over Friday, when he was still 21st with a large gap. At times, he was among the top 5 during the collective phase of practice in the first 40 minutes and occupied a solid ninth place before moving into the group phase.

In this phase, he did not improve further but put together 20 almost trouble-free laps. Like the majority of the field, he opted not to use the red-marked soft tires to save them for qualifying. In sixth place, he was less than three-tenths of a second off at his “home race,” while five cars at the front pulled away (see below).

Old guard crashes and catering on the track

While Schumacher had a trouble-free session except for a lock-up at the beginning, the bumpy track took its toll on other pilots, and of all people, the most experienced drivers in the field.

The two not-so-best friends Scott Dixon (Ganassi-Honda; 15th) and Will Power (Andretti-Honda; 4th) clashed once again, though this time without bad blood. Dixon spun in Turn 4. As Power came flying in, the yellow flags were not yet out, and the Australian crashed into the side of the New Zealander, who was not visible at the turn-in point. Both continued driving.

That was not the case for Josef Newgarden (Penske-Chevrolet; 12th), who put his Dallara into the wall at Turn 2 shortly before the end of the collective session. The maneuver was reminiscent of Michael Schumacher in Monaco 2006: oversteer at turn-in, then overcorrected. He destroyed his front-left suspension in the process. (FAQ IndyCar: 25 questions and answers about Mick Schumacher’s debut season)

“I should have just gone straight, then I would have only damaged the nose and could have driven back to the pits,” he said afterwards. “I don’t think it affects us too much because we didn’t lose too much time. Of course, I would have liked to have had another go.”

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When the group phase started, there was an embarrassing moment for the organizer. Hardly had the first cars hit the track when it had to be stopped again because a catering team had strayed onto the track. Perhaps they were under the misconception that the session was already over, but the group phase was still to come. This resulted in a longer red flag period to close the security gap.

A fourth red flag was caused by Marcus Armstrong (Meyer-Shank-Honda; 3rd) with a spin in the final corner. Since he stopped in an obscured spot, similar to Dixon, the first group practice was interrupted with the red flag.

Penske falls behind Honda quintet

The fastest time was set by Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti-Honda; 1st) in 1:33.141 minutes. He enjoys a reputation in IndyCar circles as a street circuit specialist. Champion Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda; 2nd), Armstrong, Power, and Marcus Ericsson (Andretti-Honda; 5th) ensured five Hondas in the first five places.

The Penske-Chevrolets, which were still dominant on Friday, now found themselves with a deficit; David Malukas (6th) and Scott McLaughlin (7th) were already more than a second off Kirkwood’s best time. Pato O’Ward (McLaren-Chevrolet; 8th), who was also strong on Friday, did not make an impact this time either.

Qualifying begins at 7:35 PM CET, which corresponds to 1:35 PM local time. There is a new mode in Q3 this time. The “Fast Six” will be contested in an individual time trial this time. (All info on the Arlington Grand Prix)

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