IndyCar: Is James Hinchcliffe really staying put, or is he committed to Honda?

Is James Hinchcliffe really going to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP in the 2020 IndyCar season, or is he going to remain with Honda?

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports sent shockwaves through the IndyCar paddock in early August when they announced that they would be ending their contract with Honda one year early and partnering with McLaren and Chevrolet to form Arrow McLaren Racing SP for the 2020 season.

James Hinchcliffe has driven for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports since the 2015 season, and he has driven a Honda-powered car since the 2014 season. But with him having one year left on his contract with the team after this year, it was believed that he would return to the team next year to drive the #5 Chevrolet.

Hinchcliffe even shared the following tweet about the matter.

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team co-owner Sam Schmidt has stated multiple times that he and Hinchcliffe are looking forward to the 2020 season together, and McLaren CEO Zak Brown has also stated that he would like Hinchcliffe to be one of the team’s two drivers next year.

Here is what Schmidt had to say about the matter upon the agreement between his team and McLaren, according to Motorsport.

"“As far as we’re concerned, we have another year on James’ contract and we intend on fulfilling that. Today’s announcement was obviously about McLaren, Chevrolet, Arrow and ourselves, and we wanted to get that out there for the sake of the commercial deals so we can start working on joint deals for next year. Then we figured we’d deal with driver announcements in the coming weeks.”"

Here is what Schmidt added only a few weeks ago, 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.”"

Here is what Brown had to say after confirming his team’s alliance with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, according to ESPN.

"“Hinch is under contract and we think he’s an excellent racing driver who has won lots of races and he does have big ties to Honda. From our point of view, we are very happy to continue to have Hinch, and that’s kind of the state of play.”"

End of story, right?

But even more than six weeks later, we have yet to hear somebody from Honda comment about the future of the 32-year-old Canadian, and this could prove to be a significant detail.

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Hinchcliffe has become a Honda spokesman and regularly appears in commercials for the manufacturer, and it is no secret that Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ new alliance will upset that deal.

But this didn’t seem like it would be a huge issue given the reports about Hinchcliffe driving the #5 Chevrolet next year.

However, according to NBC Sports Network’s Robin Miller during NBC Sports Gold’s live broadcast of the second practice session for this Sunday’s season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, this will not be the case.

“He is going to be in a Honda,” stated Miller, matter-of-factly.

Interesting.

The Honda teams on next year’s grid are Andretti Autosport, Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Coyne Racing and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

The future of the Andretti Autosport-affiliated Harding Steinbrenner Racing is up in the air, but all signs point to that future ending with tomorrow’s season finale, as Andretti Autosport appear to be full and slated to add a fifth car for Colton Herta, Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s lone driver, with Harding Steinbrenner Racing co-owner George Michael Steinbrenner IV as a co-entrant.

Meanwhile, Chip Ganassi Racing don’t appear to be in a position to expand to three cars. Dale Coyne Racing could be a possibility if Santino Ferrucci leaves, which is still up in the air. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing could be a possibility if they add a third car, of which there appears to be about a 50-50 chance.

So what’s the deal with James Hinchcliffe? Is he set to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP in the 2020 IndyCar season like we’ve “known” for weeks, or is there still something going on behind the scenes that only Robin Miller knows about that will keep the fan-favorite driver with Honda next year?