First Top-10 Start for Mick Schumacher Outside of Ovals — Still, He Could Have Done Better — Surprising Crashes by Top Stars in Qualifying
Mick Schumacher (RLL-Honda; 11th) advanced to IndyCar Q2 for the first time during qualifying in Markham. Due to a penalty against Alexander Rossi (ECR-Chevrolet; 8th) for an early engine change, the son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher will start the race from the tenth grid position.
This is the first time Schumacher has advanced beyond Q1 on a non-oval track, where there are no qualifying segments. He finished fourth in the second group, placing him among the top six and advancing to the “Fast Twelve” round.
The Q1 session in the second group was extremely chaotic because Will Power (Andretti-Honda) spun out with two minutes remaining. At that point, not all drivers had completed their fast laps yet, but Schumacher already had. That’s why he stayed in the pits for the final showdown.
Several drivers now had to try to break into the top six with just one practice lap (two would have been preferable for warming up the tires). In the process, Josef Newgarden (Penske-Chevrolet; 25th) spun out, causing another interruption. As a result, street circuit specialist Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti-Honda; 16th), among others, was eliminated.
Schumacher had thus made it into Q2, where another interruption occurred. This time, it was, completely out of the blue, IndyCar dominator Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda; 12th) who made a rare driving error, triggering the red flag.
This time, Schumacher was the one who suffered, as he hadn’t set a fast lap time yet. The reason was that his tire wasn’t properly secured, and he had to come back in after one lap to have it tightened.
A big hit in qualifying for Josef Newgarden. pic.twitter.com/lhWq8kbtIJ
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) August 15, 2026 blockquote>
This time, all drivers had two fast laps remaining after the session was cut short. However, Schumacher’s team made a timing error, as he finished his timed lap almost exactly as the clock ran out, preventing him from making a second attempt—which in many cases would have been faster.
As a result, he was relegated to tenth place, even though Q3 was well within reach. So there’s still a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Alex Palou brings out the red flag in qualifying after making contact with the wall. pic.twitter.com/EMqXBVgpGZ
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) August 15, 2026 blockquote>
Foster on Pole for the Second Time
This is evident not least from the fact that teammate Louis Foster (RLL-Honda; 1st) secured the pole position—the second of his career after Elkhart Lake in 2025. Foster was really fast all day Saturday and even a tad faster than Schumacher, who, due to the timing error, also had to settle for behind Graham Rahal (RLL-Honda; 10th).
Nevertheless, it’s clear that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is more competitive this weekend than at any other point this season, and Schumacher and his teammates have a huge opportunity to secure a strong result on Sunday.
Foster was in a class of his own in Q3 and posted two laps that would have been enough for pole. In the end, his lead was an incredible 0.397 seconds over Christian Lundgaard (McLaren-Chevrolet; 2nd), who, in a complete surprise, put McLaren on the front row after the team had struggled to find pace all day.
Another surprise—though one that had already been hinted at—was Dennis Hauger (Coyne-Honda; 5th). He also handled the track very well, while some big names struggled. As a result, both Meyer-Shank Hondas were eliminated in Q1.
Caio Collet, who had been incredibly strong in practice and was considered a pole contender, also had to swallow a bitter pill: After his crash in the second free practice session, his crew apparently made a mistake while hastily rebuilding the car, causing the Brazilian to run out of fuel.
As a result, a thoroughly shuffled field will take on Sunday’s 90-lap race. Will Mick Schumacher be able to improve on his best result in the IndyCar Series? Or will the feared mass crash occur? We’ll find out starting at 6:22 p.m. CEST when the race begins.