Schumacher sure Indy move wouldn’t block F1 return

The son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher spent two years with Haas across 2021 and 2022 before being dropped.

He went on to take reserve drive roles with Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren, though he never got the call-up for a race.

Schumacher has since moved into sports car racing, joining Alpine in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2024.

Now a move to the IndyCar Series in North America is on the cards with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, potentially as soon as 2026.

As for whether a sideways step to IndyCar would hurt his hopes of a Formula 1 return, Schumacher said he doesn’t see any downsides.

“I don’t think that this blocks the way back to Formula 1,” said Schumacher.

“From what I’ve read so far, there are quite a few rumours sometimes around people from here (IndyCar) going back over there (Formula 1).

“Frankly, it’s a great championship, 17 races. I’m still young, so I still want to race as much as I can.

“Again, I think the people really live motorsport here. I like that mentality of the driver being the main part of the team and trying to drive that team forwards.

“My target the last couple of years was always to go back to Formula 1,” he added.

“Unfortunately, that option hasn’t quite opened up this year and years previous to that.

“So at some point else I want to see, I want to race again in single-seaters, and therefore that option (IndyCar) is a great one.

“Hearing what all the other drivers have said so far about IndyCar kind of led to actually making it happen today.”

Several drivers have moved from Formula 1 to IndyCar in the last decade.

Alexander Rossi famously won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 fresh out of Formula 1.

The likes of Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean are more recent examples to make the move across.

“I was interested in doing a test for a while now,” said Schumacher.

“I did see some of the guys that raced full-time at some of the F1 events across the past two years and they always said how fun it was.

“I just wanted to see what the car felt like, and so far so good, and the people are great to work with. I’m happy to be here and happy to drive the car.”