Mick Schumacher and his Indy 500 race engineer Andy Brown are bringing a breath of fresh air to Rahal Letterman Lanigan—the entire team is benefiting
The legendary 2026 Indianapolis 500 in the IndyCar Series is fast approaching, and the numerous free practice sessions are helping teams and drivers optimize their cars for the May 24 showdown. At Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL), Mick Schumacher plays a key role in developing setups for the oval classic.
At the Indy 500, Schumacher is working with his race engineer Andy Brown, as Eddie Jones—who has been at the German’s side since Barber—is once again pulling the strings for Takuma Sato. Together, Schumacher and Brown have made significant progress in the area of dampers, which is also benefiting Graham Rahal, Louis Foster, and Sato.
“We’re working our way through the list, so to speak, and making sure we contribute a bit to the team as well—for example, by helping with damper tests or similar tasks, which have proven to be particularly useful and helpful,” Schumacher said on Fast Friday ahead of qualifying. “Andy Brown is doing an excellent job there, guiding us and helping me develop new ideas and different perspectives. Obviously, Gavin [Ward] is also a key part of that.”
His teammates are grateful
The work is paying off, as Rahal confirmed: “We’ve actually seen in the past few days that we made a change to the rear damper on Mick’s car that was extremely effective. He was very precise in his feedback, and it helped Takuma, me, and I think Louis as well.”
For Sato, it was also an important step: “He did a lot of work on the dampers and gave us options. And when Graham then confirmed what I could fully trust, I installed the damper on [Thursday] and we got faster.”
In the shortened qualifying session due to Saturday’s rain showers, no RLL driver made it into the top-12 shootout. Sato narrowly missed the cut in 13th place but was moved up to 12th following a penalty against Caio Collet. Foster will start the Indy 500 from 21st, Schumacher from 27th, and Rahal from 28th.
In preparation for the Indy 500, RLL Team President Jay Frye praised Schumacher’s work, noting that his experience has helped optimize feedback for the engineers. He regularly consults with his coach, Ryan Briscoe, who competed in IndyCar from 2005 to 2015.
How Feedback Works at RLL
“I think you can try to take from it what works best for you,” said the German when asked how the drivers gather their feedback. “I’ve talked a lot with Graham and especially with Ryan. I feel like he was obviously on my level, which was very helpful. I don’t have to go back to these guys and talk to them while they’re in the car. That definitely helps.”
“I think overall, the whole team was really good at not overwhelming me with information,” Schumacher continued. “I think that’s also something I was told right from the start: ‘Make sure you narrow it down to what’s really important.’ A lot of people will come up to you and try to help you, which is really nice—it’s great to be in that position. I think it’s better that way than the other way around.“
”I’ve learned a lot. It’s also about having that experience,” the German continued. “Anyone can tell you how it feels, but you don’t really know until you’ve experienced it yourself. The first day, in particular, was really not great. I felt pretty uncomfortable in the car. Then the next day we felt much better. It’s progress. Obviously, the wind and conditions have a big impact on how the car feels. I definitely felt that.”
