The German leaves Alpine and the WEC and returns to single-seater racing, who came to an agreement with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing!
Mick Schumacher will make his IndyCar debut in 2026, leaving the WEC and the Alpine team after two years to move to the other side of the Atlantic, where he will drive for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing!
The 26-year-old will drive the #47 Dallara DW12 with a Honda engine in all 17 races next year, marking a return to single-seater racing after two years of participation in the World Endurance Championship. The German’s agreement with RLL was announced just a month after his first IndyCar test with the team, at the Indianapolis Road Course. RLL is also planning an oval test “in the near future” to help Schumacher adapt to the high-speed tracks with banked corners.
“I am pleased to confirm today that I will be competing in the IndyCar Series next year with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, competing for the full season,” said the 26-year-old.
“With experience in both Formula 1 and endurance racing, and having competed in various series over the years, I have the knowledge and insight that I am confident will contribute to a great partnership. RLL has prepared me extremely well already during testing and I am confident that we can build a lot together.
After a year mostly out of action in 2023, following Haas’ decision not to retain him as their Formula 1 driver, Mick turned to endurance racing with Alpine last year, joining the company’s new LMDh program in the growing Hypercar class of the WEC, while also driving Alpine, McLaren and Mercedes F1 cars in Pirelli tire tests and TPC tests.
Although the move was successful — as he secured three overall podiums and compared favorably with his more experienced team-mates — he always stressed that a return to single-seaters remained his priority, hence the official announcement of his departure from the French team a few days ago.
At Rahal Letterman Lanigan will team up with Louis Foster and Graham Rahal (son of team co-owner Bobby), taking the place of Devlin DeFrancesco. “I think I speak for everyone at RLL when I say how excited we are to welcome Mick to the team and to IndyCar,” said Bobby Rahal. “His test with us at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was outstanding — he impressed every member of the team. We all left that test determined to do everything we can to get him into our program. We are thrilled that he has chosen us and we can’t wait to get started.”
