There are many glorified names in the wide world of motorsports, but there’s only one Schumacher. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher set new records, shattered them, and established an entirely new standard of dominance by the time he retired in 2012. But it’s his son on the grid now, in IndyCar, chasing his career a world away from the European racing establishment where that name carries so much weight. Welcome to America, Mick Schumacher.
Life couldn’t be more different for the 27-year-old Swiss these days as he sat for a long interview with The Drive during the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach last month. He’s now living on a ranch in rural North Texas (his family’s ranch, but still, might as well be Mars for someone from Lake Geneva) and driving an hour and a half for groceries. But even that is a minor adjustment compared to the massive shift in what he’s racing—the No. 47 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
It was just four years ago that Mick was in Formula 1, trying to make the best of driving for a dysfunctional Haas team and constantly being compared to his father. His time in the big show ended in 2022 after two hard-luck seasons, and whatever you want to say about his inconsistent performance, those circumstances were not ideal. Guy can drive; he won the F2 championship in 2020.
Still, it says a lot that Mick decided to walk away from F1, the thing he spent his life preparing for, after sitting on the sidelines in 2023 as a reserve driver for McLaren and Mercedes. You can easily see someone in his position, with his name, refusing to leave F1’s orbit and wasting prime years waiting for another shot. But Mick wanted to drive. He hopped over to the World Endurance Championship to race for Alpine in 2024 and 2025, flashing his skills with a few podiums before getting the itch to return to open-wheel cars. Different ones.
So now, he’s five races into his inaugural IndyCar season with RLL, preparing for his first Indianapolis 500, and adapting to life as a 27-year-old rookie with a lot to learn. He finished 17th in Long Beach, adding to a decent start that’d probably be easier if he didn’t break his wrist in the pileup that knocked him out of the season opener. But he’s clearly thrilled to be here, doing his own thing, and who knows where it leads? During our conversation before the race, he opened up about his new life in the US, getting ready for the 500, and what it feels like to drive out from under his father’s shadow.
Jerry Perez: This is a big change for you, not just in the type of car you’re racing, but also moving to the U.S. How are things treating you? How are you feeling?
Mick Schumacher: It’s definitely very different in many regards. But yeah, it’s been super interesting, super nice. I think, for me personally, it is also about development. On the racing side of things, obviously, it’s also a very big difference, simply working with the people here in IndyCar. It feels almost like back to the roots of go-karts, where it’s very one-on-one and very old-school. It’s been very fun, and I’m really enjoying it.
I thought maybe you had moved to Indy, but it sounds like you didn’t. Was it just easier to stay in Texas and feel more at home?
I guess so. Already back in the day, whenever I spent more than two weeks away, I was like, ‘Oh, I want to go back home, I miss my home.’ But yeah, it’s probably better to be there and have some family. I think Indy would be very foreign to me. Even though you have a lot of drivers who live out there and love it, I think I would still feel less at home than I do in Texas. Though honestly, the thing I miss most from home is the food. The closest Whole Foods Market that we shop at is like an hour and a half away, right? So it is a long drive just to go grocery shopping.
For Texans, that’s not very far; that’s just down the street.
Yeah! For me, you know, five minutes would be ideal timing. You have to drive longer than you have to be there, it feels like. It’s hard where we are out there in Texas.
The IndyCar season has an interesting cadence, per se, which is way different than what you’ve been exposed to before. What do you think of the pace?
When I looked at it the first time, I was like, ‘Well, it’s uh, a very compressed season, a very short season’ because we’re done [racing] in September. I would rather have it a bit more stretched out, probably into November, for example, because then the downtime is shorter. The one thing I love doing is racing cars, after all, but I understand why they do it, and it makes sense from their side. And for us racing drivers, it opens opportunities beyond IndyCar. For me, I opted to do only IndyCar this year because I didn’t really want to be distracted, and honestly, I was also quite happy to maybe have that break after the season. I just wanted to be sure I don’t commit to anything I’ll regret in the end. Maybe next year I’ll take a different approach, but for now, I think this has been all right.
Whenever I attend a race in Europe, people always ask me about IndyCar and how the fans can get super close to the action. I once talked to Fernand Alonso when he was racing the 500, and he had to have Indiana State Troopers escort him from the garages to the paddock bathrooms because everyone would mob him during that short walk, and he was very bothered by it. It was a distraction he wasn’t used to. Have you come to terms with this, and do you think it’s a plus or a minus?
I think the way the [IndyCar] championship is placed right now is probably a plus. I mean, I wouldn’t see why it would be a negative to let people come in and have a look at things. I think at the level that Formula 1 is at, and the popularity that it has, I think it would not be possible [to offer similar access]. I mean, we’ve seen it in different circumstances, even like in F1 races, where you would think that people would be quite reserved, they ended up being pretty on you. Here, in IndyCar, contrary to F1, I’ll still be able to make my way around, and people are pretty respectful if you tell them, ‘Hey, look, I don’t really have the time right now.’ They’ll let you go. I don’t know what Alonso’s experiences were in the 500—I haven’t done a 500 yet—so I don’t really know. It’ll be exciting to see how it goes for me there. I don’t plan to have any state troopers with me.
You say that now.
Yeah, maybe we’ll have to! We’ll see. If not, we always have fun! No, man, it’s been all right so far. I think it’s just different, and it’s a different approach. I still have to do my job and be in a position where I have to just deal with things like this.
Speaking of the 500, you were there as a spectator last year, and then you had your first go around. You have one more test coming up before it’s time for the big show. Have you sat down to try to process what the month of May will look like for you, your first time as an Indy 500 competitor?
Not really. I probably won’t. I think I’ll just let it come to me. But overall, I didn’t like it when I did Le Mans for the first time two years ago, and everybody was like, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s gonna be amazing, it’s gonna be like this whole crazy deal.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, all right, I’ll see how it goes.’ Honestly, I wasn’t too fussed by it. I don’t like the thought of making one race a one-event championship. Yes, the 500 is probably gonna be one of the best races ever because it’s crowded, it’s full, but in my opinion, every race should be like that because what we do is amazing, and I love racing. As a fan of the sport, I would want to support it everywhere it goes. That makes sense? I don’t ever want to be like, ‘Oh, I just want to go to the Indy 500, and that’s all.’
Has Graham or anyone else prepped you on what you should expect?
I just remember Louis [Foster] telling me that it was the scariest thing he’s ever done in his life. Oh, awesome! No, honestly, I think we’ll have a good time. Short ovals have been great. I went to Homestead, and it was a great track; it was fun, but not insane or a completely scary experience for me. In Indy, we’ll be on low downforce, so sure, that’s gonna be a first. Regarding the low-downforce package and how we’ll have to [manage] cooling there, I’m sure Graham will be great at giving me insight on all that. I’m excited to listen to him and see how he approaches that weekend.
You’re a Honda driver now. Honda is one of the biggest names in racing; if it can race, it typically dominates. What’s it been like working with HRC and the likes of David Salters?
It’s been great. I am enjoying the rivalry among the manufacturers, and being with Honda in IndyCar has been great. I feel like they really pay attention to every little detail to make sure we’re in the best place possible. Dave [Salters] has been great—he’s been pushing a lot. He used to work on dad’s car during his final season [at Ferrari], so it’s been great catching up, talking about that [era], and seeing his perspective on working in F1 and now in IndyCar. Now we cross paths here, it’s funny how sometimes these things happen.
[Author’s note: For obvious reasons, Mick has been closely guarded from questions about his father by his family and management and has declined to answer them in the past. It’s not a topic to broach lightly, but his journey is inseparable from the triumph and tragedy of Michael’s life. At this point in the conversation, I pivoted away from the usual racing fare and brought up a recent interview on Racer.com where third-generation driver Marco Andretti was asked about his experience following in the footsteps of his grandfather Mario and father Michael Andretti.
Somewhat surprisingly, Marco was frank about the pressure that comes with the last name, the feeling of not measuring up, and the unwanted attention it brings—which I applaud him for saying out loud. It felt like an important question to ask Mick as well, and to his credit, he answered it with grace.]
Marco was quite outspoken about how being a third-generation driver often took the fun out of racing because he always had to measure up to his father and grandfather. He always felt the pressure of the last name. Have you ever felt this way? Do you feel like racing is less enjoyable because you’re constantly compared to your father’s achievements?
No, not at all. I’m very proud of what my dad achieved, and he’s the best for good reason. He put some hard effort out there working countless nights to achieve what he did, and making sure that the car was in the best position possible. I’m just aiming to look at what he did and follow it, and make sure that what I do works for me as well. There’s never been any pressure to do exactly what he did or to try to beat him or whatever. There’s none of that just because; since an early age, my dad has always been there to support me, never to push me to do something he thought was not beneficial to me.
That’s why, a lot of the times I ended up just having a mechanic instead of my dad doing the that for me when I was in go-karts, just because he wanted to, I think, step away from it and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll support you wherever you need, but I’ll be having my fun on another racetrack while you’re doing your work and enjoying what you’re doing, and then we can come back together afterwards and have a chat about it.’ It’s never been to a point where he’s like, ‘Okay, you should do this, you should do that.’ It’s a great approach. I loved it, and if my kids ever want to do that in the future, I’d do it exactly as he did.
What do you drive back at home for your daily, daily car?
I don’t actually have a car yet.
So, how do you drive 1.5 hours to Whole Foods?
I’m using my sister’s car [laughs].
Do you have any toys you like to take out on the weekend when you’re back home in Switzerland?
Yeah. We have some nice cars that I love driving, but I don’t really take them out onto a track—I just literally drive around in them. I recently bought a drift car that is fully FIA spec. It’s an HGK E92 with an LS7 engine in it. The other stuff is just like really nice and fun cars to have, but not put too many miles on.
What’s your favorite way to spend time away from the track?
It depends on the weather conditions we have and where, I guess. Like, if I’m home in Switzerland, I’d probably take out the little motorhome—it’s a Sprinter—with my dog, and just go up in the mountains or do something away in nature. That’s always great. Here, that’s a bit more difficult. I would go golfing or do something that is pretty enjoyable for me at the moment. If I were by the coast, I’d probably go surfing.
Lastly, and just to pick your brain, what’s your take on the current drama with the F1 regulations changes, and various drivers saying it’s like Mario Kart? Any thoughts on how things have evolved since you were there?
On paper, they [FIA] always knew that something similar would happen, but F1 is known for, in my opinion, being able to have an insanely quick and good way of turning things around for the better. If you look at what we started in 2022 to where we ended in 2025 [with the previous rulebook], that was a huge change in terms of just how great the cars were by the end of that regulation set. I have no doubt that by, even later this year, they will have something in place to improve what they have at the moment.
Email the author at jerry@thedrive.com
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