Mick Schumacher's maiden IndyCar season took a positive turn on Monday as he bagged his first top 10 finish of the year.
At the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, held on Nashville Superspeedway's 1.33-mile concrete oval, the German finally scored a breakthrough result in a season that has been filled with challenges.
Schumacher brought his No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda home in eighth place, comfortably his best result of a 2026 campaign that had yielded a best finish of just 16th before Monday's outing.
The race, which was delayed by one day due to adverse weather, was won by Alex Palou, who crossed the line ahead of Josef Newgarden and David Malukas.
"I couldn't have done it without the team. The pit stops have been amazing all day," Schumacher said.
"We knew we had a good car after FP2 and we just put it to work. I think we can be really proud of everything we've done this weekend. Hopefully many more of those moments come."
However, Schumacher felt there was even more left on the table, adding: "In terms of pace, we were definitely supposed to be higher.
“I think the car was so good that I think we could have really been higher up than that. It was just difficult to pass and I felt a little loose at times.
“The open communication that we had all race with the team has been so good. Jeff [Troyer, spotter] and Ryan [Briscoe] on the stand coaching me throughout the whole race was good.
“This is how the weekend is supposed to go and you see it. When we have a clean weekend, this is the sort of finish, a top 10 position, that we can expect consistently, if not higher.
“I'm just very proud of the team. We've just got to build on that momentum, and do it until the end of the year."
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