Mick Schumacher Set for 27th Start in the 110th Indianapolis 500
mick schumacher will start 27th in the 110th Indianapolis 500, giving the rookie a place near the back of the 33-car grid for Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He still qualified as the fastest rookie before Caio Collet was moved to the rear of the field for a technical violation.
Schumacher and the 27th slot
The starting spot leaves Schumacher with work to do from the opening laps, but he said he feels set for Sunday and expects to come back through the field. He also said the month at Indianapolis had felt more like two weeks, a sign of how quickly the buildup has moved for him.
That pace has not meant a quiet stretch. Schumacher said the team spent its time running different damper packages and different air configs to build data, and he called that process important after arriving at a track unlike anything else he has raced.
Bertha the dairy cow
Before race week, Schumacher took part in one of Indianapolis’ better-known traditions by milking Bertha the dairy cow, an event arranged by the American Dairy Association Indiana. He said he had milked a cow before on a friend’s family farm, and he added that he wants to drink the bottle of milk handed to the winner in Victory Lane.
The off-track routine fits into a bigger first-timer’s learning curve. Schumacher is a rookie for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and Sunday will be his first Indianapolis 500 oval start after racing on street courses, road courses and one oval at Phoenix.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval
Schumacher said the Indianapolis Motor Speedway aero configuration is completely different, with small wings on the cars and a short oval that moves at a faster pace than the circuits he knows best. He also said the tires do not last for an infinite amount of time, so each run has to produce a plan as well as data.
He pointed to the testing schedule as part of that learning process, saying the open test includes two days before the series moves to the IMS road course and then back to oval testing from noon to 6 p.m. Weather can affect that work, but he said the team gathered a good amount of data in the opening run.
The family link still hangs over the weekend. Mick Schumacher is 27 years old, and his father, Michael Schumacher, won on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course five times in Formula 1 competition. Sunday gives the younger Schumacher a different challenge, with a starting position that demands a clean climb if he wants to turn that rookie status into a real result.
