Just one month after winning the 110th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it was announced that Felix Rosenqvist would not be returning to Meyer Shank Racing for the 2027 NTT IndyCar Series season, marking the first time that the reigning Indy 500 winner would not be back with the same team for the first time since Takuma Sato moved from Andretti Autosport to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after the 2017 season.
While the team opted to move Marcus Armstrong from the No. 66 Honda to the McLaren-bound Rosenqvist's No. 60 Honda, they did not actually name the Indy 500 winner's true replacement until now.
Confirming weeks of speculation, Mick Schumacher is set to remain in IndyCar next year by joining Armstrong in Meyer Shank Racing's two-car lineup, following his rookie season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Mick Schumacher to replace Felix Rosenqvist
Entering the regular season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Schumacher is 23rd in the championship standings among the 25 full-time drivers, but the second half of his season has been markedly better than the first half with a team that has struggled as a whole.
In the season's first 11 races, he finished no higher than 16th place, but in the six most recent races, his average finish is 14.17 with four top 13 results.
Many projected Schumacher to be strong on road courses, given his background, but it's his oval performance that has stood out for a team that has not been a true oval contender since 2021.
He qualified fourth for both his oval debut at Phoenix Raceway and one of the two races at the Milwaukee Mile, and he finished in a career-high eighth at Nashville Superspeedway. He was also this year's Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, and his average oval finish is also 14.17, placing him 17th in the oval standings, tops among RLL Racing.
Schumacher's departure from RLL Racing comes as the team prepare to downsize from three cars to two, retaining veteran Graham Rahal and Louis Foster as they sell their third charter to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
As for Meyer Shank Racing, they have taken a huge step forward since their dismal 2023 season, and that turnaround started when they hired Rosenqvist away from McLaren in 2024. That progression was further accelerated when the team announced a technical alliance with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2025, and both drivers finished in the top eight in the championship standings.
Rosenqvist's Indy 500 win means that no team has won more Indy 500s than Meyer Shank Racing this decade; Helio Castroneves won it back in 2021 as well. Armstrong himself led the race this year with one lap remaining before ultimately settling for fifth, and both he and Rosenqvist have been contenders across a wide range of tracks throughout 2026.
With that in mind, yes, it's a great opportunity for Schumacher. But as is the case with any great opportunity, especially one that comes effectively as a second chance, it also means that there will be no more room for excuses for the former Formula 1 driver if things don't go his way in 2027.
Fortunately for him, he has historically thrived in second seasons, winning the 2018 Formula 3 European Championship in 2018 after a 12th place finish in 2017, and winning the 2020 Formula 2 Championship after a 12th place finish in 2019.
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