Almost three decades after Michael Schumacher said he wouldn’t dream of getting into an IndyCar, labelling it as too dangerous and writing off its drivers as substandard, his son Mick is making the switch Stateside.

The younger Schumacher will line up for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team, owned by Indy 500 winner Graham Rahal and legendary talk show host David Letterman.

The young German had an impressive rise up the junior ranks, winning the F2 and F2 titles, before struggling at the backmarker Haas squad in F1.

He then built himself back up with strong performances for the Alpine Hypercar team in the World Endurance Championship over the last couple of seasons, but recently tested an IndyCar for RLL, emphasising that he was extremely keen to get back into open-wheel racing.

“I was immediately excited about the car and the American way of motor sport which comes across as being more about pure and direct racing, and it is precisely this aspect that I am very much looking forward to,” Schumacher said in the announcement.

“And of course, I am curious about new experiences and always interested in broadening my horizons. For me, a new journey is beginning here, and I am excited for the season to start.”

He isn’t the first F1 star to make the hop across the pond in search of the American dream though. We run through the best instances a grand prix hot shot swapped Monaco for Milwaukee.

1. Nigel Mansell – 1993 IndyCar champion

It just had to be ‘Nige’ at No1. In one of his famous flounces, newly crowned ’92 F1 champ Mansell announced he wouldn’t defend his crown because Williams had the temerity to sign old adversary Alain Prost alongside him.

Hollywood star Paul Newman swooped in and persuaded ‘Our Nige’ to pop over to IndyCar instead, and the results were spectacular.

Five race wins, a podium finish at the Indy 500 and the ‘93 series title was his reward. One mechanic likened Mansell’s presence to The Beatles, such was the fan frenzy at every race.

He remains the only person to ever hold both F1 and IndyCar crowns at the same time.

2. Emerson Fittipaldi – 1989 & 1993 Indianapolis 500 champion, 1989 IndyCar champion

Emerson Fittipaldi with his $1,000,000 cash prize (1989) pic.twitter.com/34U3ejdMnX

— MOTORFORMS 🏁 (@motorforms) February 26, 2024

Indy 500-winning car (sponsored by Phillip Morris, naturally), the huge Borg-Warner Trophy and piles of cash: Emerson Fittipaldi truly did live the American racing dream.

Double world champ Emmo took a three-year break after the nightmare of running his own grand prix driver as player-manager, but returned to racing three years later in IndyCar.

The ’89 title and two Indianapolis 500 wins says that was the right decision.

3. Jim Clark – 1965 Indianapolis 500 champion

Jimmy might never have entered a full IndyCar season but, so famous were his Indy 500 attempts in the innovative Lotus cars, we’ll put him at No3.

He won the race in his brilliant 1965 season, took pole in 1964 and finished runner-up twice more too.

The Scot also won at the Milwaukee Mile in 1963 too, making him a bonafide crossover star in our eyes.

4. Alex Zanardi – 1997 & 1998 CART champion

The charismatic Italian struggled with Lotus in the early ‘90s, but moved to Ganassi for 1997 with brilliant results.

Zanardi claimed the ’97 and ’98 titles, pulling off ‘The Move’ to overtake Bryan Herta into Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew on the last lap in the latter season and creating his signature ‘donut’ celebration to boot.

5. Takuma Sato – 2017 & 2020 Indianapolis 500 champ

Sato might have snared just one podium finish in 92 F1 races, but he has two Indianapolis 500 wins, achieved in 2017 and 2020.

Those victories, plus four more race wins at other circuits in the American championship, only cemented his reputation as one of the most fearless competitors in motor sport.

6. Alexander Rossi – 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion

Was Alexander Rossi an F1 driver? Just barely, competing in five races for the beleaguered Manor F1 team in 2015.

The following season he switched to the Andretti IndyCar team though, which proved to be the right move.

He triumphed at the ’16 Indy 500 with an infamous economy run, coasting over the line, and has since taken seven more race wins.

7. Marcus Ericsson – 2022 Indianapolis 500 champion

The Swede might have toiled in the lower reaches of F1, but became successful Stateside when he won the Indy 500 in 2022 for Ganassi, performing his famous ‘dragon’ move to break the tow of Pato O’Ward in the closing stages.

He has won three more IndyCar races and now drives for Andretti.

Honourable mentions:

8. Graham Hill: Even less of a full-time entrant than Clark, but he did win-out at the Brickyard in ’66 at the wheel of a Lola, since becoming the only man to hold motor sport’s Triple Crown of the 500, Le Mans and the Monaco GP.

9. Teo Fabi: The Italian flitted between IndyCar and F1 in his early years, and took pole at the 1984 Indianapolis 500 on his debut. The sensational year continued, finishing second in that year’s championship.

10. Jackie Stewart: Leading the 1966 Indianapolis 500 on his debut with eight laps to go, a broken scavenge pump meant team-mate Graham Hill swooped in to take the win.