Mick Schumacher has picked up a new nickname after F1 exit and you will NEVER guess what it is

Credit for photo: Alpine Endurance Team — Photo: © IMAGO

Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher has picked up a new nickname after F1 exit and you will NEVER guess what it is

Mick Schumacher left F1 in 2022

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 19 March 2026 15:56

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Former F1 driver Mick Schumacher has a new nickname in IndyCar, with his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) team giving him a new name.

Young German Schumacher is racing in the series in 2026 after signing a full-time contract with RLL at the end of last year, ditching his role as an Alpine driver in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

Schumacher is the son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, and had his own career in the series that his dad excelled in.

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Mick raced with Haas in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, picking up 12 world championship points in that time, before being axed by then team boss Guenther Steiner at the end of 2022.

Schumacher has not had the best of starts to his IndyCar career, currently sat plum last in the IndyCar drivers' standings.

But the young German has revealed that he is still adapting to the different type of single-seater racing, explaining the differences between the two series while also revealing a new nickname that he has picked up within his team.

"Obviously, a lot of it is more manual, it's a lot more raw here," he told the Speed podcast when comparing F1 and IndyCar. "We don't have power steering, we don't sit on the T-tray, windscreen, aero screen, those things do give you different perspectives on things.

"Power and weight is also different compared to F1, in F1 we have a lighter car but more power and obviously a lot more downforce.

"So, the driving techniques are very different, tyres are a big point, you know Pirelli rubber has been notoriously very difficult to nurture and whatever you do to it at the beginning of a stint will have an effect towards the end of the stint, whereas here there's a bit less of that."

Revealing his new nickname at RLL, Schumacher continued: "They call me twinkle toes within the team because I have such a smooth foot, but that's the way I've learned things and how I've learned how to drive the cars in Europe."

Will Mick Schumacher return to F1?

Now 26 years of age, a potential Mick Schumacher return to F1 seems a long shot at this stage.

The young German was warned by Valtteri Bottas last year not to move to IndyCar, out of fear that the German's talents would be forgotten by F1 teams.

Indeed, it's now been six years since Schumacher claimed F2 title success in 2020.

At Alpine's WEC team, Schumacher felt closely linked to the F1 team, although managing director Steve Nielsen revealed last season that Schumacher was not a consideration to replace Franco Colapinto when the Argentine was struggling.

Schumacher was also snubbed for a move to the new Cadillac team, with the American outfit instead opting for a more experienced duo of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, and the young German will likely find it hard to break back into F1.

A starting point for him, however, would be to build a successful career in IndyCar, reminding everybody of his immense talent.

F1 Haas Mick Schumacher IndyCar