RLL shuffles engineering staff for Schumacher

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is making a change to Mick Schumacher’s No. 47 Honda program with the appointment of team veteran Eddie Jones as race engineer for this weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix. RLL’s Mike Pawlowski, who joined the team from Arrow McLaren after serving as Kyle Larson’s race engineer at last year’s Indianapolis 500, will pivot from engineering Schumacher to an engineering R&D role.

Pawlowski’s oval expertise was on display with Schumacher at Phoenix Raceway where the rookie qualified fourth and ran well, but from the outset, shortcomings in the pairing were evident at the two street course races at St. Petersburg and Arlington where Schumacher – a lifelong road racer – was largely uncompetitive.

With Schumacher holding 25th and last in the drivers’ standings, a reboot after three races was not entirely unexpected; the engineering change signals RLL’s belief that better results are possible with the No. 47 Honda program.

Jones ranks as one of the most successful race engineers across decades of work in IndyCar paddocks and is responsible for some of RLL’s greatest achievements, including Graham Rahal’s career-best season in 2015 when he placed fifth in the championship and its 2020 Indy 500 win with Takuma Sato.

Jones, who stepped back from a full-time role, will remain with Schumacher for next month at Long Beach and the Indianapolis Grand Prix in May, but will shift over to resume his partnership with Sato on the No. 75 RLL Honda entry at the Indy Open Test and for the 500.

RLL will use the weeks ahead to determine the best engineering fit for Schumacher on approach to Indy and look to solidify the 27-year-old’s race engineer to complete the season after the 500.