IndyCar: Five possible replacement candidates for Takuma Sato in 2018

Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Takuma Sato, driver of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda, practices for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

FORT WORTH, TX – JUNE 09: Takuma Sato, driver of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

With Takuma Sato heading back to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the 2018 IndyCar season, here are five possible candidates to take his place at Andretti Autosport.

2017 Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato, who needs to drive for a Honda team, is heading back to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the 2018 IndyCar season to drive for the team he nearly won the Indy 500 for back in 2012.

Since Andretti Autosport will indeed stick with Honda engines next season, Sato’s move is somewhat of a surprise given the fact that both his current team and the team he is headed to next season are Honda teams.

Because Andretti Autosport is sticking with Honda in 2018, they will likely retain 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi in the #98 car. 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will remain in the #28 car and 2006 Indianapolis 500 runner-up Marco Andretti will remain in the #27 car.

This would still leave the team’s fourth seat open thanks to Sato’s departure from the #26 car. Who are some of the possible replacement candidates to fill that seat next season if team owner Michael Andretti does opt to continue his four-car operation?

There are only a few seats solidified next season as of this very moment, which means plenty of drivers will be on the move this offseason. We believe three of Andretti Autosport’s drivers will be back, two for sure, and we know that Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power will be back with Team Penske.

We also know that Scott Dixon will be back with Chip Ganassi Racing, Sebastien Bourdais will be back with Dale Coyne Racing, Graham Rahal will be back with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and RLL Racing will be adding Takuma Sato.

As far as everyone else goes? It’s anybody’s guess. Let’s have a look at five possible replacements for Takuma Sato when he does officially depart from the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda following the conclusion of the 2017 season.

Zach Veach

Zach Veach, 22, has been in pursuit of a full-time ride in IndyCar for a number of years now. He may be a legitimate candidate to fill the seat of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda.

Prior to the 2017 season, Veach had never driven in IndyCar before. He made his series debut in April at Barber Motorsports Park for Ed Carpenter Racing in a replacement role for JR Hildebrand, finishing in 19th place. Then in May, he made his Indianapolis 500 debut with AJ Foyt Racing. However, mechanical issues prevented him from finishing the race, as he ended up back in 26th.

While Veach has driven just two career IndyCar races before, he has certainly been in Andretti Autosport team owner Michael Andretti’s sights for quite a while now. He drove for Andretti Autosport in the 2010 and 2011 seasons in the U.S. F2000 National Championship, winning one of his 22 races over two seasons there and finishing in the top 5 in the championship standings both seasons.

Then in the 2012 season, Veach continued driving for Andretti Autosport, this time in the Star Mazda Championship. He did not have the success there that he had in the U.S. F2000 series, but he did manage two podium finishes en route to a 10th place finish in the standings.

While his 2012 season in Star Mazda was not spectacular, he continued his climb up the Road to Indy ladder and drove for Andretti Autosport in 2013 in the Indy Lights Series. He finished on the podium once in 12 races en route to a 7th place finish in the standings.

The 2014 season was Veach’s breakout season. Still driving for Andretti Autosport in Indy Lights, he opened up the season with finishes of 1st, 2nd, 1st and 3rd place, respectively. He ended up with three victories and another six podium finishes in 14 races en route to a 3rd place finish in the standings.

Unfortunately, a hand injury sidelined him in the 2015 season, but he returned to Indy Lights in 2016 driving for Belardi Auto Racing and had another impressive season, winning three of 18 races and finishing on the podium in another five events en route to a 4th place finish in the standings.

Veach’s perseverance and loyalty to Andretti could end up paying off here. When talking with him at Pocono in 2015, he stated that the Andretti’s were “like family”, and when talking to him at Pocono this year, he said he was “close” to a full-time ride in 2018, although he did not mention with which team.

Tony Kanaan

Let’s make one thing clear: Tony Kanaan, 42, is done at Chip Ganassi Racing after the 2017 season ends. D-O-N-E, done. There are no questions about it. Teams don’t park drivers in the middle of races towards the end of a season just because they “can’t make up ground” if they intend to bring said drivers back the following season.

Kanaan began racing full-time in modern-day IndyCar back in the 2003 season for Andretti Green Racing. He won the championship driving for the team in the 2004 season. When the team became Andretti Autosport in the 2010 season, he stayed, but after that, he left for KV Racing, where he drove for three seasons. He won his first career Indianapolis 500 with the team in 2013, which was his final season with the team.

Since the 2014 season, Tony Kanaan has been driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, which has been arguably the best team in the sport in recent history, winning six of the last nine championships. However, Kanaan has only been able to collect one win for the team, and that was three years ago in the season finale at Fontana.

While he has only been a real threat to win on the superspeedways this season, with his three top 5 finishes in 2017 coming at the three superspeedway races, he has still been somewhat solid at other venues. In fact, he currently sits in 9th place in the championship standings. If he is able to finish there, that would give him 14 finishes of 9th place or higher in the standings in his 15 full-time seasons.

Andretti Autosport is a team that hasn’t won a non-Indianapolis 500 race since Pocono in 2015. In fact, the team’s last win on a non-superspeedway was at Iowa in 2015, with their last win on a road or street course coming at a shortened Belle Isle race in 2015. The team also took the victory in a shortened Barber race in 2014. However, their last full-length race win on a road or street course came at–get this–Sao Paulo way back in 2013. That was even before Kanaan won his Indy 500.

The fact that Kanaan is still an elite superspeedway driver could be exactly what Andretti Autosport is looking for. Given their extreme success on superspeedways recently, particularly at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Indy 500, Kanaan could be a perfect fit, even at age 42. Also, in eight seasons driving for Andretti, he finished no lower than 6th place in the standings.

James Hinchcliffe

Remember the reference on the last slide to Andretti Autosport’s most recent win at a non-shortened road or street course race? That 2013 Sao Paulo race was won by none other than James Hinchcliffe, and he did it in epic fashion.

Hinchcliffe, 30, is set to become IndyCar’s top free agent this offseason. His skill on the track and his general character and personality off the track make him a sponsor’s dream, which could help him land a ride with the top-tier Andretti Autosport team he once drove for.

Hinchcliffe starting driving for Andretti Autosport in the 2012 season in what was supposed to be the late Dan Wheldon’s car. Before his death in October of 2011, Wheldon was set to replace Danica Patrick after she made her move to the NASCAR Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series back in 2012.

However, Hinchcliffe ultimately ended up with the ride in 2012. He stayed there through the 2014 season, spending two seasons with the team while they were with Chevrolet and the final season with the team when they were with Honda. He won a total of three races in 52 attempts over three seasons with the team, with all of those wins coming in 2013.

In the three seasons since Hinchcliffe’s departure from Andretti Autosport, he has driven for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in a Honda car, so he has proven that he can drive for either a Chevrolet or a Honda team. In his three seasons with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, he has two victories in 36 races, with his most recent win coming at Long Beach earlier this season.

While Hinchcliffe has had some success at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, his best two career IndyCar seasons up to now were undoubtedly the 2012 and 2013 seasons when he drove for Andretti Autosport and finished in 8th place in the championship standings. Could he reunite with the team in 2018?

Robin Frijns

Robin Frijns is currently a full-time driver in the relatively new Formula E series, which is the FIA’s Electric Street Racing Series. Frijns has driven in the series for two full seasons, doing so for Michael Andretti’s team in both seasons.

Frijns tested the #28 Andretti Autosport Honda IndyCar regularly driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last summer during his first Formula E season with Amlin Andretti. Michael Andretti was actually concerned that he would end up impressing rival IndyCar teams during the test.

"“This kid is really good and he may really open some eyes for an another IndyCar team, which we don’t want to happen…I know he has talent so that is not the question. We just wanted to give him the chance and see how he does and how he likes it and gets along with the rest of the team.”"

Frijns was, indeed, impressive in his test, as his fastest time of the test session ended up being just 0.18 seconds slower than the fastest time of the earlier session by Ryan Hunter-Reay, the full-time driver of the #28 IndyCar.

"“I enjoyed it a lot; it was the first car with downforce I’ve driven in a few years since Formula 1, and I only drove that car three times with it. I always told myself I enjoy downforce cars more, so I’m thankful to Michael for the opportunity…It’s not my decision, but I would love to race one day in IndyCar. Let’s wait and see what Michael’s going to do.”"

Given the fact that Amlin Andretti has not been very successful as a whole in Formula E, Frijns’ results in his two seasons there show he could be worth the gamble in IndyCar. He has finished 20 of his 22 Formula E races, doing so in the top 10 on 12 occasions with a career-high finish of 3rd place in just his second career race in the series back in the 2015-2016 season.

Fernando Alonso

Takuma Sato is leaving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Andretti Autosport sticking with Honda came a surprise to many, as the whole idea behind Sato needing to leave in the first place is so he can stick with a Honda team. So because these things are both happening, that may mean a large amount of money has been poured into the team from an outside source.

And that outside source may just be two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso and the McLaren-Honda Formula One team. McLaren has been largely uncompetitive in Formula One over the past few years. In 48 races with the team, Alonso has finished no higher than 5th place in a race. So far this season, the lack of reliability from Honda has caused Alonso to fail to finish seven of his 10 races. McLaren is second to last in the constructor standings, with only Sauber trailing them.