No second consecutive Q2 advance: Mick Schumacher is eliminated in Q1, just like his two teammates—Alex Palou celebrates his seventh pole position of the season
After advancing to Q2 in Markham, Mick Schumacher (RLL-Honda; 20th) did not make it past Q1 this time at the Freedom 250, the one-off IndyCar race celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
Schumacher had to settle for tenth place in the second group, which means he’ll start from 20th on the grid. He was about four-tenths of a second short of advancing to Q2. Like several other drivers, he was unable to complete his final flying lap because Kyffin Simpson (Ganassi-Honda; 25th) caused a red flag. As a result, his two best laps were disqualified.
The hybrid system on the Dallara-Honda driven by the son of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher—who has since confirmed he will remain in the IndyCar Series for 2027—had to be replaced before qualifying. He missed his time from the second free practice session by 0.443 seconds.
It’s been an eventful first group in qualifying. pic.twitter.com/o6KhTox4wj
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) August 22, 2026
All three Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars were eliminated after Q1. Graham Rahal (RLL-Honda; 23rd) finished last in the first group. Louis Foster (RLL-Honda; 18th) placed 0.095 seconds ahead of Mick Schumacher in the second group.
Seventh pole of the season for Palou
At the front of the grid, spectators were treated to a duel between serial champion Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda; 1st) and street circuit specialist Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti-Honda; 2nd). Kirkwood set the fastest times in Q1 and Q2, but in the individual time trial of Q3, he missed his Q2 time by six-tenths of a second.
Palou, on the other hand, improved his time by 36 thousandths of a second, securing a commanding pole position with a 0.567-second lead over Kirkwood—with a lap time of under one minute! Kirkwood’s 56.773 seconds from Q2 will likely remain immortalized in the history books as the track record, since the race is being held only once.
“Palou made us all look a little silly,” Kirkwood grumbles—knowing full well that he left a lot on the track in Q3. Palou cheers: “Unbelievable, man! What a privilege to race at this spectacular venue! I really gave it my all and have already secured this trophy for the whole team.”
A tough qualifying session for Marcus Ericsson.& lt;br>
He details what happened during his run with @KevinLee23. pic.twitter.com/T55xTq8hFI— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) August 22, 2026
The second row is shared by Scott McLaughlin (Penske-Chevrolet; 3rd) and Christian Rasmussen (ECR-Chevrolet; 4th), who made it into the “Fast Six” somewhat surprisingly. “The car was fast right from the first practice session!” the Dane says happily. Overall, Chevrolet is performing significantly better this time around than it did in Markham.
Marcus Armstrong (MSR-Honda; 5th) and David Malukas (Penske-Chevrolet; 6th) botched their laps; Malukas even crashed into the wall and bent his suspension. In Q3, the starting order (based on the Q2 sequence due to grid selection) was particularly crucial, as those who drove first had even warmer tires. No one put on fresh tires because a single outlap wasn’t enough to bring them up to temperature.
All three McLaren drivers were eliminated in Q2, and even the rather impressive Dennis Hauger (Coyne-Honda; 8th) was knocked out in a thrilling elimination round.
The biggest surprise, however, was the elimination of Markham winner Marcus Ericsson (Andretti-Honda; 15th) in Q1. The Swede crashed into the wall, just like Rinus “VeeKay” van Kalmthout (Juncos-Chevrolet; 19th) and his teammate Will Power (Andretti-Honda; 13th). For all three, Q1 was the end of the road.
