IndyCar veteran Josef Newgarden expressed amazement at Mick Schumacher’s qualifying performance at Phoenix Raceway on Friday. Schumacher, son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher, secured an impressive fourth place on the 25-car grid, marking a remarkable debut in oval qualifying.
Despite having no prior oval race experience before the weekend, Schumacher completed two oval tests ahead of the season but faced the intense pressure of race weekend qualifying for the first time. The 25-year-old German exceeded expectations by outperforming three of the four IndyCar champions and five of the six Indy 500 winners competing.
Newgarden Commends Schumacher’s Unexpected Oval Skills and Team Improvement
The qualifying session saw Schumacher set his two-lap time first, yet he outpaced many seasoned drivers on the grid. Only Josef Newgarden, a multiple IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner, managed a faster qualifying time, starting second overall for the upcoming Good Ranchers 250 race.
Following qualifying, Newgarden, recognized as one of the best short oval racers of his generation, praised Schumacher’s performance and acknowledged a general upswing for his team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL):
“I thought he was shockingly good. Right? I mean, what do you expect, you know? This guy is like a complete — literally, a foreigner to oval racing. I thought he did a great job. I would also just say it looked like Rahal, in general, looked significantly better than they have in the past, right? I mean, I haven’t seen Graham (Rahal) qualify like that on an oval in a while. So I think it’s also a team comment. You know, you got something going on there too.” ?Josef Newgarden, IndyCar driver
Historically struggling with their oval race setup, RLL saw a turnaround in performance on Friday as veteran teammate Graham Rahal qualified just ahead of Schumacher, taking third place.
“But for Mick, what a tremendous job,” added Newgarden. “The race is a different story, but you know, I say this all the time. You got to be open-minded in this series. He could just come in and be a natural. It’s not unheard of. We’ve seen people do that where they just take to these racing conditions, but to pass his first test, I think he passed it with flying colors. Now he has a couple of other tests that he needs to pass now.” ?Josef Newgarden, IndyCar driver
Challenges Ahead for Schumacher as Race Day Approaches
In IndyCar oval qualifying, drivers run in reverse order of their championship standings. Schumacher, sitting last in the standings following a crash at the season opener in St. Petersburg, was the first to set a qualifying time at Phoenix. Without any benchmark on the track, he pushed hard to set a competitive lap.
“Going out there first is not as easy,” Schumacher reflected after qualifying. “In this case, we didn’t have a reference beforehand. But maybe that was also not too bad, because we just had to go and do whatever we knew from previously. So overall, as a team, a really good effort there.” ?Mick Schumacher, IndyCar driver
Looking toward the 250-lap race, Schumacher remains realistic about the difficulty of the challenge he faces:
“No doubt, it’s gonna be tough. Excited about going racing and excited about starting further front.” ?Mick Schumacher, IndyCar driver
Despite his rookie status and limited oval experience, Schumacher’s promising qualifying suggests he could make a notable impact on race day, especially now that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has found improved pace on short ovals.
