'It was a great day': Schumacher competes first oval laps at Homestead test

Mick Schumacher spent the last six months wondering what it would feel like to turn his first laps in an IndyCar on an oval, and on Wednesday, the new Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver got his answer on the 1.5-mile Miami-Homestead course.

“For sure there was a ton of respect for the ovals; it would be dumb not to do that,” the ex-Haas Formula 1 driver told RACER. “But definitely went in with a lot of good energy. We had a lot of good preparation for ovals in general, so I felt ready for it. We were here yesterday doing some laps on the track to discuss a little bit about high lines, low lines, and all that kind of stuff that belongs to oval racing.

"The first initial lap felt a bit funny. I think it was maybe because we haven't been driving here (at Miami-Homestead) in so long that we're really going in with a question mark on ride heights and all that stuff, right? So the car was maybe not in the in the best place to start with, hence why maybe the feeling wasn't quite the best in the beginning, but then we quickly improved the car and got to a point where we felt very comfortable. I think it was a great day.

“We did a bunch of laps and went through a couple of different setups and approaches to driving here. It was really fun. Lots to learn still, but for a first test, and for the first taste of an oval, this was a great day.”

The green track surface made for plenty of sliding and high tire degradation, which curtailed Schumacher’s day after using all of the sets made available for his No. 47 Honda. He’s spent his life firing through fast and slow road and street course corners, which made Miami-Homestead’s non-stop offering of 200mph turns a new experience for the 26-year-old.

“It's been good to come out here and feel how you have to drive the car and how precise you have to be, but also how reliant you have to be on what the car does what it's supposed to do,” Schumacher said.

“At some point it becomes natural, and it becomes kind of like a habit of what you doing, and muscle memory kicks in, and then you just really need to focus on, okay, what do I want to do in that corner now? Do I want to try the high line? Do I want to try the low line? What do I need? Where do I find the most grip? Where do I find the most lap time without hurting tires?' So it's been a really good day in that sense, and we were able to chip away on a lot of the boxes that we kind of set ourselves, that we wanted to tick off.”