– In a largely unspectacular 2026 Long Beach Grand Prix, the fifth race of the current IndyCar season, Mick Schumacher (Rahal-Honda) achieved his best race result of his rookie season with 17th place. The race was won by four-time and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou, who is now also the 2026 championship leader after his third win of the season.
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Like most of the 25-car field, Schumacher opted for hard tires (“Blacks”) for the first stint of the race. However, as the regulations for street races in the 2026 IndyCar season stipulate, at least two stints had to be completed on soft tires (“Reds”). Like most, Schumacher did this as part of a two-stop strategy: hard-soft-soft.
Schumacher started from 21st position. After his weekend had been absolutely disastrous until then – technical defect and no flying lap in Friday practice, followed by a crash into the tire barriers in Saturday practice, and finally a Q1 exit in qualifying – P17 in the race is certainly a solid finish to his third street race as an IndyCar driver.
Photo gallery: Mick Schumacher’s results in the 2026 IndyCar season
Among the three rookies in the field, Schumacher classified behind Dennis Hauger (Coyne-Honda; 11th), but ahead of Caio Collet (Foyt-Chevrolet; 22nd). Schumacher’s more experienced teammates Graham Rahal and Louis Foster finished the race in P8 and P16 respectively. Foster, who crossed the finish line directly ahead of Schumacher, seemed on course for a top-10 finish, but in the final stint, his soft tires gave up and he lost several positions. (Result: 2026 IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix)
Alex Palou overtakes Felix Rosenqvist in the pits
At the front, the 51st edition of the Long Beach Grand Prix was largely dominated by polesitter Felix Rosenqvist (Shank-Honda), up until lap 57 of 90, when the only yellow flag period occurred. The reason was a small part lying on the track in turn 3. Under yellow, the entire field came in for a pit stop. For most, it was their second of the race.
During this very pit stop, Alex Palou, who had been running in second place behind Rosenqvist until then, was serviced fastest. He returned to the track ahead of Rosenqvist as the first car out – the decisive moment.
Work was also swift in the Ganassi pit of Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon. The New Zealander moved up from sixth to third position during the pit stop. And: As the only driver in the top 5, Dixon opted for soft tires for the final stint. The other four drivers had started from the top 4 of the grid and had begun the race on “Reds”. Dixon, who started from sixth, began the race on “Blacks”.
And in this order, they crossed the finish line after 90 laps: Alex Palou won ahead of Felix Rosenqvist, securing his first Long Beach victory. Scott Dixon finished third, just defending himself against Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti-Honda; 4th) in the final phase. Patricio “Pato” O’Ward (McLaren-Chevrolet) completed the top 5.
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Josef Newgarden on a different strategy, but …
Josef Newgarden (Penske-Chevrolet), starting from 14th, opted for a different strategy. Although one of 17 drivers who started on the hard tire compound, he pitted after just eleven laps to switch to soft tires. When the leading group switched from soft tires to soft tires again, Newgarden recorded four laps led.
Shortly after his second pit stop, however, Newgarden suffered a flat spot on his front left tire while overtaking Marcus Armstrong (Shank-Honda). This forced the Penske driver to adopt a somewhat more cautious pace. However, he did not have to bring forward his third pit stop.
In this regard, the timing of the only yellow flag period worked in Newgarden’s favor. However, the advantage he and his crew had gained through the different strategy was gone. In the end, he didn’t achieve more than the position he started from: P14.
Will Power (Andretti-Honda) was directly behind the top 5 after the pit stop under yellow. In the pit lane, however, he had incurred a penalty for hitting a mechanic from Caio Collet’s Foyt crew while accelerating. The resulting drive-through penalty dropped Power hopelessly back. He finished P19.
IndyCar 2026: Long Beach
Power’s Andretti teammate Marcus Ericsson did not finish at all. He pitted after 38 laps with technical problems (hybrid unit) and retired. It was the only retirement in the 25-car field.
In the 2026 IndyCar overall standings, Alex Palou has now reclaimed the championship lead from Kyle Kirkwood with his third win of the season. After five of 18 season races, Palou’s lead over Kirkwood is now 17 points. David Malukas is third in the standings as the spearhead of the Penske team.
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The 2026 IndyCar calendar continues in just under three weeks, on Saturday (May 9), with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield road course. For Mick Schumacher, it will be the only track on the calendar that will not be unfamiliar to him at the start of the race weekend. Schumacher completed his first IndyCar test on this very Indianapolis road course in October 2025.
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