– The legendary Indianapolis 500 of the IndyCar series 2026 is getting closer and the numerous free practice sessions help the teams and drivers optimize the cars for the showdown on May 24. At Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL), Mick Schumacher plays an important role in the development of the setups for the oval classic.
Read more Lotus 72: Fittipaldi raves about the «best car» of his career
At the Indy 500, Schumacher works with his race engineer Andy Brown, as Eddie Jones, who has been alongside the German since Barber, is again pulling the strings for Takuma Sato. Together, Schumacher and Brown have made important progress in the area of dampers, from which Graham Rahal, Louis Foster, and Sato also benefit.
“We are basically working our way down the list and making sure that we also contribute a bit to the team by helping with damper tests or similar, which has proven to be particularly useful and helpful,” said Schumacher on Fast Friday before qualifying. “Andy Brown is doing an excellent job there guiding us and helping me develop new ideas and different perspectives. Obviously, Gavin [Ward] is also an important part of it.”
His teammates are grateful
The work is paying off, as Rahal confirmed: “In the past few days, we actually made a change to the rear damper on Mick’s car that was extremely effective. He was very precise in his feedback, and it helped Takuma, me, and I think also Louis.”
For Sato, it was also an important step: “He did a lot of damper work and gave us options. And when Graham then confirmed, which I could fully trust, I installed the damper on [Thursday] and we got faster.”
Indy 500: Qualifying
In the shortened qualifying due to rain showers on Saturday, no RLL driver made it into the top-12 shootout. Sato narrowly missed out in 13th place but was promoted to 12th due to a penalty against Caio Collet. Foster will start the Indy 500 from 21st place, Schumacher from 27th, and Rahal from 28th position.
Read more Norris plans Le-Mans start: McLaren hypercar to come in 2027
In preparation for the Indy 500, RLL team president Jay Frye praised Schumacher’s work, who has optimized the feedback for the engineers with his experience. He regularly exchanges ideas with his coach Ryan Briscoe, who was active in IndyCar from 2005 to 2015.
How feedback works at RLL
“I think you can try to take what works best for you,” said the German when asked how the drivers collect their feedback. “I talked a lot with Graham and especially with Ryan. I feel that he was obviously on my level, which was very helpful. I don’t have to go back to these guys and talk to them while they are in the car. That definitely helps.”
Indy 500: The race where Formula 1 world champions fail
“I think overall the whole team was really good at not overloading me with information,” Schumacher continued. “I think that’s also something I was told right at the beginning: ‘Make sure you reduce it to what is really important.’ Many people will come to you and try to help you, which is really nice, great to be in such a position. I think it’s better this way than the other way around.”
“I have learned a lot. It’s also about having this experience,” the German continued. “Anyone can tell you how it feels, but you really only know when you have experienced it yourself. Especially the first day was really not great. I felt quite uncomfortable in the car. Then the next day we felt much better. It’s progress. Obviously, wind and conditions have a big impact on how the car feels. I definitely felt that.”
Read more Mentor Reuter about sensation man Wiebelhaus: “Like a memory stick”
