03/01/26 01:30:00
Printable Page
03/01 13:28 CST Mick Schumacher's IndyCar debut ends in crash at St. Pete Grand
Prix
Mick Schumacher's IndyCar debut ends in crash at St. Pete Grand Prix
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) --- It was a rough fresh start for two-time IndyCar
champion Will Power in his first race with a new team, and same for Mick
Schumacher in his series debut.
Schumacher didn't even complete a lap Sunday in the season-opening IndyCar race
on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, where he could not escape a crash in
the opening minutes when Sting Ray Robb and Santino Ferruci collided.
The son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher had nowhere to go
as he drove his Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing into turn 4 and had
two crashed cars directly in front of him. Robb received a 30-second penalty
for avoidable contact and continued the race, while Ferruci and Schumacher got
a car ride to the medical center.
"That's racing," Schumacher said after exiting the check-up.
Power, on his 45th birthday, had a short debut race for Andretti Global when he
brushed the wall on the 21st lap.
"I feel really bad for the guys, the car was really good," Power said after a
difficult weekend with his new team. The Austrailian has not driven in the
series for anyone besides Roger Penske since 2009.
Power was replaced in the Penske lineup by David Malukas, who at 24 years old
made his team debut for the most storied organization in the series.
Power spent a long time on his timing stand speaking with Ron Ruzewski, the
team principal at Andretti, before putting on his helmet and safety gear and
walking down pit road back to his garage. Andretti crew members repaired the
car and he was able to return to the race 31 laps behind the leaders.
Schumacher --- and Ferruci --- were not as fortunate as their days ended with
Robb's aggressive, early contact.
"I saw Santino lock up and I wasn't aware that there was another guy on the
inside locking up a littler deeper than what's supposed to be, and that kind of
chain-reactioned the whole scenario," Schumacher said. "Unfortunately our real
target was to finish the race and get all the laps that we wanted."
The German said his debut weekend wasn't a wash because he was still able to
learn over three days on the track. Schumacher indicated he won't dwell on the
results and is already mentally preparing for next Saturday's oval debut at
Phoenix Raceway.
"Looking ahead. Not looking back, trying to understand what we could have done
better on our end, qualifying maybe being one of them," said Schumacher, who
started 21st in the 25-car field. "Like always, when you starting in the back,
things end up being quite difficult but I think I made it extra difficult.
"I think as a team, we really needed that race to not have doubts going into
the next event. But, hey, we've got 16 or 17 more races to go."
Schumacher made the move away from F1 after three seasons without a ride. He
drove for Haas in F1 and became a Mercedes reserve driver after losing that
seat at the end of 2022.
He hasn't made an F1 start since 2022 and instead competed in the World
Endurance Championship. It led the 26-year-old German to give North American
open wheel racing a try this season.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
|
