Former Haas Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher tested an Indy Car for the first time just over a week ago at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and he did so with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as he considers making the full switch to the NTT IndyCar Series in 2026, if given an opportunity to do so.
It would be a drastic change of scenery for the son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, as he has spent the past two seasons competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The former Formula 2 champion had remained around F1 as a test and reserve driver following his post-2022 Haas release, but that is no longer the case.
Every year, there are IndyCar tests conducted by teams that don't end up signing the test drivers, and many times the drivers don't end up competing in the series at all.
But Schumacher tested for the perfect team if he is to actually make the move to the American open-wheel racing series.
Schumacher in, DeFrancesco out?
After two lackluster seasons with Andretti Autosport in 2022 and 2023, during which he never placed higher than 12th in a single race, Devlin DeFrancesco was left without a seat for the 2024 season. Yet DeFrancesco, a known pay driver, ended up back in the series in 2025 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Though he signed a multi-year contract to drive the No. 30 Honda, there is a rumored performance clause in his contract which could allow Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to move on from him after a dismal 2025 season.
Sure, the team struggled as a whole throughout 2025, but he recorded just one top 15 finish and placed 26th of 27 drivers in the standings, ahead of only Dale Coyne Racing rookie (and fellow pay driver) Jacob Abel. If not for three drivers being disqualified from the Indy 500, his best career finish would still be 12th after three seasons. He still hasn't finished inside the top 10.
He was consistently outperformed by veteran teammate Graham Rahal and rookie teammate Louis Foster alike, and though it sounds bizarre, he found himself crashing into Scott McLaughlin on the opening lap of races almost as often as he found himself running on the lead lap.
If Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing want to get themselves off the mat, they need to do better than DeFrancesco in their third car. They showed flashes of potential all year, even amid their struggles. No team led more laps than they did during the month of May, and Foster was one of the sport's best road course qualifiers.
There's no telling how Schumacher would perform in IndyCar, but if he is serious about the switch and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing are serious about giving him the chance, they can't afford to let the opportunity pass.
They know what they're getting (and not getting) from DeFrancesco at this point, and quite frankly, they let Jack Harvey and Pietro Fittipaldi go after performing considerably better, despite their own struggles.