Mick Schumacher: It felt like driving on ice.

      Last weekend, Mick Schumacher finished 16th in the IndyCar race held on a street circuit in Portland, having only qualified 23rd. However, on Sunday, Mick truly fought on the track, overtaking many competitors and becoming the best rookie – by the way, he was recognized as such after the May Indy 500 race as well.

      Here’s how he commented on the results of the Portland stage on his social media pages: “It felt like driving on ice – I believe all the efforts paid off. We had a solid pace and good strategy during the race, but towards the end, we ran out of tires, and I had to fight hard to maintain my position.”

      But immediately after the finish, his tone was somewhat different: “We need to completely overhaul the car before the next race to prevent this from happening again.”

      These words were primarily addressed to his team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL), and it’s clear that Mick was clearly dissatisfied with the car's performance. On the straights, he was losing two to three tenths, especially on a track with a relatively short lap – without this, Schumacher could have likely reached the top ten.

      Of course, the qualifying result could have been much higher, so on Saturday, Mick also did not hide his grievances: “It seems that for some reason we are generally lacking pace on the straights. I can’t say for sure what the reason is…”

      Despite this, in the race, he managed to gain a few positions, primarily due to the strategy of later pit stops, executed together with Todd Malloy, his new race engineer. They also took a risk and switched to soft tires in the final stages of the race, which allowed Mick to overtake Romain Grosjean.

      “I really had to push until the finish to hold onto 16th place,” added the son of the seven-time world champion. “Ultimately, considering how the season is going, our task is to fight for every position and every point that can be earned. I think we managed that this time.”

      There are five races left in the season – two of them will take place on street circuits, two on the short oval Milwaukee Mile with a lap length of just 1.633 km, and the final stage will be held on September 6 at the California racetrack Laguna Seca.

      At the same time, there are rumors that the Meyer Shank Racing team, which is somewhat stronger than RLL, is showing interest in Schumacher. Moreover, during the past weekend, it became known that their list of candidates is now one driver shorter, as Brazilian driver Chao Collet could not secure the necessary budget. However, it seems that Mick has sponsors, and we can expect news about his plans for the next season to emerge soon.