Mar.2 (GMM) Mick Schumacher’s new IndyCar adventure got off to a difficult start, with the German crashing out on the opening lap of the season opener in St Petersburg.
The 26-year-old qualified 21st out of 25 cars on the tight Florida street circuit, roughly a second off the outright pace in practice as he adapted to the vastly different machinery.
Any hopes of steady progress in the race ended almost immediately.
Caught up in a first-lap incident at Turn 4, Schumacher was eliminated before completing a lap. His car ended up perched on top of another, bringing a premature end to his much-anticipated debut.
“Our real target was to finish the race and get all the laps in that we wanted – and we got even less than that. Very unfortunate. But I’m happy about the knowledge we gained throughout the weekend.”
Schumacher admitted qualifying further up the order could have avoided the chaos.
“When you’re starting at the back, things are always quite difficult,” he said. “So the key takeaway is ‘qualify higher up’. Simple as that.”
Team owner Bobby Rahal defended his new driver and played down the scrutiny from back in Europe.
“All that pressure is harmful,” the 1986 Indy 500 winner said. “Mick should have fun, and then success will come. You have to learn these cars.”
On F1 more generally, Rahal added: “The atmosphere there has changed drastically. The paddock has become sterile. It feels like a maximum-security prison that, ironically, everyone wants to get into.”
Despite the setback, Schumacher remains upbeat.
“We’ve got 16 or 17 more races to go. It’s just the first one,” he said. “We’re looking ahead, not looking back.”
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