4 Takeaways From INDYCAR Testing: Mick Schumacher’s Oval Education Continues

Phoenix International Raceway (Avondale, Ariz.) — INDYCAR drivers enjoyed some sun, some wind and, well not so much, some rain during their two-day test at Phoenix. The series hasn’t competed on the 1-mile oval since 2018, and while the basic car is the same, the aeroscreen and hybrid systems make the handling much different. Drivers say the major factor in whether they will have a good race March 7 is whether an upper groove can have another rubber on the track in order to produce two racing lines. “You’re talking 200-300 pounds difference in weight,” six–time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon, who won at Phoenix in 2016, told me. “The track actually itself feels like it has similar grip. The track is the same as when we last raced here. Obviously, the grandstands are in different positions and the start-finish line has moved. “The emphasis on trying to get that second lane in.” Here are my takeaways: 1. Mick Schumacher Learning Ovals Former F1 driver Mick Schumacher continued his accelerated education on ovals, and part of that was how the wind impacts the car for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie, who had his first oval test at Homestead a couple of weeks ago. “Confidence coming from Homestead helped that whole scenario a little bit and sped up the process,” Schumacher told me. “We had the rookie session [the first day at Phoenix], which was like an hour before everybody else was driving and then half a day in the car was great. “Then today [on Wednesday], getting in with the cold, cooler conditions has been pretty good and then the wind picked up and it started to become a bit more challenging out there.” After tests at Homestead and Phoenix, does Schumacher — who has never raced on an oval — like ovals now? “They’re interesting,” Schumacher said. “I’ll have to be racing them to say if I like them, it’s obviously a very different type of racing, something I need to get used to, and I’m excited to learn.” 2. Opening Statement David Malukas topped the speed chart on the first day and for the driver who replaced Will Power at Team Penske, posting a fast time was important. “I feel confident, but is it [fast time] what we were aiming for today? No,” Maulkas said during a post-practice news conference Tuesday. “We just ran through our test plan, and we managed to get a time up on the board. “Does it feel good? Yeah, I would say it feels good.” Malukas posted a lap speed of 172.605 mph, which was eclipsed on the second day by Alexander Rossi’s speed of 174.542 mph early in the afternoon session that was delayed by 90 minutes because of rain. For comparison, the pole speed for the Cup race in November was 133.759 mph. INDYCAR drivers don’t brake at Phoenix. “It’s very, very fast,” Malukas said. “When you are going through especially [Turns] 1 and 2, we are on the limit.” 3. Remember, It’s Testing One of the aspects of testing and trying to compare speeds is that it is hard to know who is trying what at what time and whether it was on new or fresh tires. And cars don’t go through technical inspection. A week earlier at Sebring, Pato O’Ward was not among the 10 fastest, and he tried not to sweat it. “We cannot read too much into Sebring,” O’Ward said. “We’ve done well there, we’ve done bad there, and not a lot of influences into what [the opener at] St. Pete usually looks like. “We were just testing a lot of the things that we obviously worked on during the offseason with obviously the sets of tires and stuff. We weren’t there to set the fastest time with what we wanted to try.” 4. Tire Talk Firestone brought a new right front tire that is wider than what has been used on the shorter ovals. It is designed to avoid some of the failures seen last year, including for O’Ward at Nashville. Another bit of tire talk? When teams come to Phoenix in two weeks, they will be at the track with the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Series. Those series use Goodyear tires; INDYCAR uses Firestone. How the cars react to different tire rubber on the track surface remains to be seen. “That’s going to make a huge difference,” four-time INDYCAR champion Alex Palou told me. “We can have an amazing car now, and suddenly, when you have the rubber from NASCAR, it can be like a totally terrible car or it could be the opposite or it could stay the same. “It’s going to affect us for sure. I don’t know how. Hopefully it just works for us.” 4 1/2: What’s Next Racing! INDYCAR teams head to St. Petersburg next week for the season opener. It’s been a long offseason but drivers will get into a rhythm early. With Sebring testing last week and Phoenix this week, it makes for five consecutive weeks of on-track activity as the INDYCAR season opens March 1 on the streets of St. Petersburg, then races March 7 at Phoenix and March 15 on the streets of Arlington (Texas). “It’s not long now — it’s next week,” Schumacher said about his INDYCAR debut. “We’re all excited. We’ve been talking about it for so long now that they’re all very keen on getting going.” Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.