The 26-year-old, son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, joined Alpine ahead of the 2024 season, racing in the hypercar class alongside teammates including Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Jules Gounon and Frederic Makowiecki.

Over two seasons, he secured three podiums — Fuji in 2024, and Imola and Spa in 2025 — showing his single-seater speed translated effectively to prototypes.

“I’m very grateful for these past two years with Alpine Endurance Team. I’ve learnt so much on and off track, and I’m thankful to everyone who’s been a part of it. I wish them the very best for the future,” Schumacher wrote on Instagram, hinting at his 2026 plans.

Alpine responded: “Thank you, Mick! It’s been a pleasure having you with us and working side by side for the past two years. Wishing you all the best for what’s next!”

Schumacher’s departure is driven by a desire to return to single-seaters, a passion that persisted during his time in endurance racing.

Following an October test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at Indianapolis, he explained the appeal of IndyCar.

“IndyCar comes the closest to what I can still race,” he said.

“I’m still young, so I do want to race as much as I can, and I think the people here really live motorsports.

“I also like the mentality of the driver being the main part of the team and driving the team forward.”

He added that finding the right environment is key to enjoying racing.

“I want to enjoy racing, and to do that I want to find where I feel most at home,” he said.

“I’m not saying Europe or WEC or any of those other championships aren’t that, but I feel maybe racing [single-seaters] is always what I wanted to do.”

After losing his Haas seat at the end of 2022, Schumacher spent time as a Mercedes F1 reserve and explored endurance options, including seats with Cadillac and McLaren’s Hypercar programme, but passed on them.

With a seat now available at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, all signs point to him moving into IndyCar in 2026.

“I can’t go back to Formula 2 because I won a championship,” he said.

“IndyCar might be a good option. My target for the past couple of years has been to go back to Formula 1, but that option hasn’t opened up this year or the years before.

“At some point I want to race again in single-seaters, and therefore this option is a good one.”