IndyCar: James Hinchcliffe to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP in 2020

James Hinchcliffe is set to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP in the 2020 IndyCar season despite speculation that his ties to Honda would prevent him from doing so.

Despite speculation that Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ new partnership with McLaren and their switch from Honda engines to Chevrolet engines ahead of the 2020 IndyCar season would cause him to leave the team, James Hinchcliffe is set to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP next year.

This was news that Hinchcliffe posted on his Twitter account when this partnership was announced in early August, and both Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports co-owner Sam Schmidt and McLaren CEO Zak Brown also stated that he was slated to return to the team at this time.

After all, Hinchcliffe was still under contract with the team through the 2020 season.

pic.twitter.com/QILg7ngO4b
— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) August 9, 2019

More from IndyCar

That said, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ still had one year on their contract with Honda as well, and that is obviously no longer the case, and nobody from Honda (beyond 2019) had their say in the matter as it pertained to Hinchcliffe’s future in IndyCar at that point.

Given Hinchcliffe’s deep ties to Honda, which includes regular appearances in Honda commercials, there was speculation that this could end up being a problem regarding him continuing to drive for the team.

But now the 32-year-old Canadian has been confirmed at Arrow McLaren Racing SP for the 2020 season, which is set to be his first season driving a Chevrolet-powered car since his second of three seasons driving for Andretti Autosport back in 2013.

Here is what Schmidt had to say about Hinchcliffe returning to the team for the 2020 season, according to Motorsport.

"“We’re very pleased James is staying, absolutely, although I’m not sure why there was all that speculation. I mean, yes, it was unfortunate that we had to change engine supplier – unfortunate for us, unfortunate for him – but we had to make a change in order to join forces with McLaren, and the pros far exceeded the cons there.“James had a year left on his contract with us, and as I’ve told you before, I always wanted the continuity of going into next season with at least one established driver with measurable experience and talent and wins under his belt. So there was willingness on both sides to continue as per our contract.”"

The speculation about him leaving involved him potentially returning to Andretti Autosport as their fifth driver or joining Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as their third.

Hinchcliffe has driven for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports after leaving Andretti Autosport following the 2014 season. He missed much of the 2015 season recovering from near-fatal injuries he suffered in a wreck during practice for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he has not driven for any other team since.

He has made 137 starts since his IndyCar career began in the 2011 season, his lone season driving for Newman/Haas Racing. He has driven in 69 of these 137 races for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and he has collected three of his six career victories, 10 of his 17 career podium finishes and his lone career pole position driving for the team.

Through the first 15 races of the 17-race 2019 season, he sits in 11th place in the championship standings with a season-high finish of third place in the race at Iowa Speedway, the site of his most recent victory last July. His career-high finishes in the standings are his eighth place finishes in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. His best finish in the standings driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is 10th, which he recorded last year.

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

With Arrow McLaren Racing SP set to field two cars on a full-time basis in the 2020 IndyCar season, who will they confirm as James Hinchcliffe’s teammate? There have been many rumored candidates thus far, including but not limited to Marcus Ericsson, Conor Daly, Santino Ferrucci, Felipe Nasr and Colin Braun, and until a decision is made, these rumors will likely continue to circulate.