– The 2027 IndyCar season is slowly casting its shadow ahead as the penultimate weekend of the current year approaches in Milwaukee. Mick Schumacher is already looking forward optimistically to his second year, which he is expected to spend at Meyer Shank Racing in a somewhat stronger team than his previous squad Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
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The main reason lies in the accumulated track experience. “Since I am almost the only driver in the field who has never seen many of these tracks before, it will certainly be much easier for me to come back and have the right pace in the right places from the start,” explains Schumacher. “The learning curve on the weekends will hopefully be much shorter next year.”
Especially courses without prior test runs posed challenges for the German. “There were tracks this year where I had never been before – Barber Motorsports Park is one of them and is one of the more difficult tracks, as well as the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where we did not test,” Schumacher explains.
“Next year I will know the way and where left and right are, especially on the more confusing courses. It will certainly be much easier.”
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He sees that pure speed is present, proven by previous appearances: “People know what I can do. I have shown speed myself on tracks where I first had to learn the layout. On tracks like Markham, where the conditions were the same for everyone, we were able to easily compete at the front.”
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Although a move to Meyer Shank Racing is considered an open secret in the paddock, Mick Schumacher remains reserved: “No, not yet. It will be announced later.”
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For the final sprint of the current season, the German sets clear goals. “The goal is definitely to get the car into the top 22 of the overall standings and thus into the Leader’s Circle, and I think we have every chance to do so,” says Schumacher.
“In terms of points, it is not too far away. If we have a consistent weekend, there is a good chance that we will make it. In addition, of course, we want to reduce the gap to the leading rookie [Dennis Hauger].”
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Besides the sporting development, Schumacher is also making progress commercially. “I came into the IndyCar series without sponsors,” says the son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher.
“Over time, I have met many fantastic people and great companies. It is great to work with so many different firms.”
This expansion of the network solidifies his economic base in US motorsport and is also likely to be decisive should he get the MSR cockpit. He is now said to have a solid budget as a dowry.
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