IndyCar: The future of Mick Schumacher is in question

      Mick Schumacher is one of the IndyCar drivers whose future career prospects raise questions: will he even want to stay in IndyCar after such a disappointing season? And if he does, will he continue his collaboration with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing? Graham Rahal and Louis Foster, two other drivers from this team, have contracts until 2027, while Mick does not. The management of RLL states that they will make a decision regarding the son of the seven-time world champion no earlier than July, and if he decides to part ways with the team, they have a whole list of candidates who could take his place.

      On the last day of May, the race on the city circuit in Detroit ended for Mick with yet another crash, particularly in a situation where he was aiming for a top ten finish, if not a podium. But he was unlucky again: during the period when the peloton was driving behind the safety car, Mick lost radio communication with the team and his engineer. He had to act independently, and at the restart, he was in third position, but of course, the lack of radio communication only added pressure. In the end, he made a frustrating mistake and crashed the car, which we reported on.

      Stories with such an unhappy ending have occurred in previous stages of the season, although, for example, in his debut race on the oval track, Schumacher achieved the 4th result in qualifying, and at the Indy 500, he was recognized as "Rookie of the Year."

      However, as the German publication Auto Motor und Sport writes, literally everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And this is despite the fact that Mick demonstrated signs of talent, and specialists and the press noted his potential.

      Of course, mistakes and various troubles are inevitable in a debut season, but half of the races are already behind, and Schumacher is in 25th place in the series standings – the last among all who compete in all stages of the championship. Meanwhile, Rahal is in 11th place, and Foster is in 19th. According to IndyCar rules, only drivers who finish in the top 22 positions can expect to earn prize money.

      Of course, it only takes one truly successful race for Mick's standings to change immediately. Moreover, Schumacher, the holder of the legendary racing surname, is always warmly supported by the public. However, not just the public: during the Indy 500 days, the resident DJ responsible for the musical accompaniment played the song "Hey Mickey," an old hit by American singer Toni Basil, popular in the 80s, throughout the racetrack in his honor.

      But will there be a reason to play this cheerful song next year?

      However, there are still chances to turn things around, including this weekend. The tenth stage of the season takes place from June 19-21 at the Road America road course in Wisconsin, and Mick has high hopes for it, partly because its character resembles European racetracks.

      "The tests at this track went quite smoothly, and even before the start of practice, we know what level we are at," Schumacher commented. "When there is an opportunity to immediately move on to the next stage of preparation, it gives a noticeable advantage.

      The track fits beautifully into the surrounding landscape, it belongs to the old school and has retained that character, and there are blind corners. I hope to showcase all my strengths here, including my understanding of how to conserve tires on tracks of this type."

      In addition, Mick is quite good at saving fuel, which is also important on a lap length of 6.515 km that combines features of both European and American tracks. To what extent his hopes will come true, we will find out late Sunday night.