IndyCar: Andretti Autosport confirm Honda engines for 2020 and beyond

Andretti Autosport have confirmed that they will be sticking with Honda engines for the 2020 IndyCar season and beyond after agreeing to a new contract extension.

Despite speculation that they may switch their engine manufacturer back to Chevrolet from Honda, Andretti Autosport confirmed that they will remain aligned with the Japanese manufacturer for the 2020 IndyCar season and beyond, as the two sides reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension.

This news was confirmed alongside the news that Alexander Rossi is set to return to the team for the fifth consecutive season next year and that he is set to continue to drive the #27 Honda, which he has driven since the start of the 2018 season after switching rides with Marco Andretti, who now drives the #98 Honda for Andretti Herta Autosport.

The team confirmed this news on Twitter.

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When Chevrolet reentered IndyCar ahead of the 2012 season, Andretti Autosport switched from Honda to Chevrolet. But even after Ryan Hunter-Reay won the 2012 championship driving the #28 Chevrolet and the team had one of their best ever overall seasons in 2013 with a series-high five victories, they switched back to Honda ahead of the 2014 season.

Since they realigned with Honda, Andretti Autosport are still seeking their first championship. Rossi owns the team’s top finish in the championship standings since then, as he finished in second place behind champion and fellow Honda driver Scott Dixon last season, and he currently sits in second behind Josef Newgarden with five of the 2019 season’s 17 races having not yet been contested.

However, what Andretti Autosport have done since switching back to Honda ahead of the 2014 season is something that they did not do in either the 2012 or 2013 seasons, and that is win the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The tenure of Andretti Autosport at Honda that lasted until 2011 ended in awful fashion at the Brickyard that year, as two of the team’s five drivers failed to qualify for the race. They had better success in 2012 with Chevrolet, with three drivers qualifying in the top four in second, third and fourth place, but could not secure a top five finish.

In 2013, they had three drivers finish the race in the top four in second, third and fourth place. But in 2014, Hunter-Reay drove his #28 Honda to victory lane. Rossi did the same in 2016 behind the wheel of his #98 Honda, and Takuma Sato gave the team three Indy 500 victories in four seasons the following year in 2017 season behind the wheel of his #26 Honda.

As a result, all five of the team’s Indianapolis 500 victories, the other two being Dan Wheldon’s victory in 2005 and Dario Franchitti’s victory in 2007, have come with Honda as their engine manufacturer.

Rossi has been the team’s highest finishing driver in the two Indy 500 races that have been contested since Sato’s victory. He finished in fourth place in the 2018 edition of the race after starting all the way back in 32nd, and he finished in second in this year’s running of the race after an intense 13-lap shootout that featured five lead changes among himself and eventual race winner Simon Pagenaud.

As a result of all of this news pertaining to Andretti Autosport, their four-car driver lineup is slated to remain the same for the 2020 IndyCar season. In addition to Alexander Rossi returning to drive the #27 Honda, Zach Veach is set to continue driving the #26 Honda while Ryan Hunter-Reay is set to continue driving the #28 Honda and Marco Andretti is set to continue driving the #98 Honda.