Mick Schumacher has been named the Rookie of the Year for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, which comes with a $50,000 monetary bonus as part of a record Indy 500 purse.
Schumacher, whose past experience includes 43 Formula 1 starts 16 World Endurance Championship races, is embarking on his rookie IndyCar season. One of the biggest learning curves for him has been the ovals, and the Indianapolis 500 was his most daunting challenge yet.
Despite that, he avoided any incidents during the Month of May, qualifying 27th. During the race, he continued to stay out of trouble for the most part, keeping the car clean
Schumacher went on to finish 18th and on the lead lap, ahead of the other three rookies in the field. Dennis Hauger was 19th, Jack Abel 24th, and Caio Collet — who did lead some laps — finished 26th after a late crash.
Mick Schumacher, No. 47 RLL Racing Honda
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images
Additionally, Schumacher was second of the four RLL Racing entries, beating teammates Graham Rahal and Louis Foster, while Takuma Sato led the team with a tenth-place finish.
Taking the stage during the Indy 500 Victory Celebration banquet on Monday, Schumacher reflected on his first experience racing at the Brickyard while officially receiving his ROTY award.
Schumacher did make the highlight reel when made a daring pass on the race leader later race winner Felix Rosenqvist to forcefully get his lap back. During his speech, the 27-year-old noted that it was his favorite moment of the race.
“I loved that one, even if it was to un-lap myself, but hey, you gotta take what you can get.”
He was also in awe by the incredible buildup to the race with 300,000+ fans in attendance, and talked about the moment when the Black Hawk helicopters paced right along with the field of 33.
“They were low, I could tell you — I felt that in the car. It was shaking around, so it was pretty impressive to see that.”
Hear more from Mick after his first Indy 500 experience:
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– The Motorsport.com Team