IndyCar: Mikhail Aleshin and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports part ways

By Asher Fair | Aug 12, 2017

AVONDALE, AZ - APRIL 29: Mikhail Aleshin of Russia, driver of the #7 Schmidt Peterson Motosports Honda greets fans as he is introduced to the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway on April 29, 2017 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

After more than two seasons together, Mikhail Aleshin and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports have announced that they are parting ways.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced that they are parting ways with IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin, the driver of the #7 Honda, effective immediately.

Aleshin, 30, first drove for the team in the 2014 season in his rookie season in the Verizon IndyCar Series. He racked up seven top 8 finishes in the first 17 races of the season, including a career-high 2nd place finish at Houston, before being involved in a devastating crash in practice for the season finale at Fontana.

The injuries he sustained in that crash had a part in keeping him sidelined for much of the 2015 season. He only drove in the season finale at Sonoma, where he finished in 10th place, making Sonoma the first IndyCar track he had ever finished in the top 10 twice at.

Aleshin returned to IndyCar as a full-time driver with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the 2016 season. He opened up the season with a 5th place finish at St. Petersburg, but he did not finish in the top 12 at another race until he finished in 5th place at Iowa nine races later.

At Mid-Ohio last season, Aleshin dominated the race before being involved in a crash in the pits. In the following race at Pocono, Aleshin took his first career pole en route to tying his career-high finish of 2nd place, which makes it ironic that he and the team are parting ways right before the 2017 Pocono race.

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Had it not been for his crash in the pits at Mid-Ohio, he very well could have had a stint of four consecutive top 6 finishes, as he finished in 5th place at Iowa and 6th place at Toronto before the Mid-Ohio race and then finished in 2nd place at Pocono. He also had a strong car at Texas, the race that followed Pocono, but was involved in a late wreck that took him out of competition.

This parting of ways comes as no surprise to many fans, as Aleshin had not finished in the top 5 yet this season through 13 races despite the fact that he finished last season as one of the fastest drivers in the series. So far this season, he had only driven in 12 of the 13 races before being let go of, as the team benched him at Toronto, another reason why the move does not come as a huge surprise.

With still four races to go in the 2017 season, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports will likely go after a replacement driver for Aleshin in the #7 Honda to team up with the driver of the #5 Honda, James Hinchcliffe. As far as the 2018 season goes, it’s still anyone’s guess.

There is no word yet on who that short-term (or perhaps, long-term) replacement driver may be, although Sebastian Saavedra would seem to be a logical choice, as he was the driver who filled in for Aleshin at Toronto, and he did fairly well in that replacement role, finishing the race in 11th place after starting back in 20th.

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Do you think the fact that Mikhail Aleshin and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports are parting way is for the best? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it.