Crucial details of Mick Schumacher's IndyCar prep for career-changing move emerge

Mick Schumacher is set to take part in his first IndyCar test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on Monday, October 13, in what could decide his next career move. Preparation for that test for the former F1 driver will begin on Friday, October 10, with him visiting the RLL shop in Zionsville, Indiana.

Schumacher will go through an onboarding about the RLL Honda he'll pilot at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the track his father, Michael Schumacher, won at five times during his F1 career. RLL president Jay Frye, who was the president of IndyCar until a month before the 2025 season, shared key details about Mick Schumacher's pre-test prep.

"Mick’s coming in tomorrow, and from eight to noon, he’ll do the seat fit at our shop, then we’re headed with him to the simulator, the DIL, from one to five," Frye told RACER. "We’ll take our engineers and spend the afternoon there, and get him a head start on what’s coming on Monday.

"Then he’ll come back and visit us on Saturday, we’ll look more over on the car, go through more of the chassis side and the vehicle dynamics with our engineers, and get everything loaded up and ready to go for Monday morning," he added.

Frye also shared that the DIL simulator was shut down for some servicing, but Honda expedited its maintenance process to get everything ready for Mick Schumacher's test preparation. The former Haas F1 driver, who has been racing in the World Endurance Championship since 2024, is yearning for a return to single-seaters. This IndyCar test could bloom into a career switch for him.

2025 IndyCar Rookie of the Year will be present at the IMS to ease Mick Schumacher's test day

2025 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Louis Foster at the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand Prix at Road America - Source: Getty

Besides experienced engineering personnel, 2025 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Louis Foster, who drives for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, will be present at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday to coach Mick Schumacher should the former F1 driver have any queries.

Jay Frye shared that IndyCar veteran Graham Rahal, who drives the No. 15 RLL Honda and whose dad Bobby Rahal co-owns Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, could also be in attendance. He said:

"Louis is going to be there to help answer anything Mick might want to know, and Graham really wants to be there, but they’ve got a baby that’s almost here, so he’ll have to play that one by ear. But Mick won’t be short of people to get him into our world and comfortable for Monday. It’s an important day for all of us."

Mick Schumacher will have significant company at the IMS road course. Among the other drivers in testing would be Ed Carpenter Racing's Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indy 500 winner, and Christian Rasmussen. Andretti Global will also be testing, with its 2026 IndyCar reserve driver Lochie Hughes, while AJ Foyt Racing will give Indy NXT sensation Caio Collet his second test as part of judging his capability to occupy the No. 14 Chevrolet vacated by David Malukas.

Dale Coyne Racing will field Dennis Hauger for his second test with the team after a crash-laden test at Mid-Ohio last week. Last but not least, Juncos Hollinger Racing will field Indy NXT driver James Roe.