IndyCar: What remains unknown about the 2021 driver lineup

While many of the seats on the 2021 IndyCar grid have been secured, there are still quite a few things we don’t know about next season’s driver lineup.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon secured his sixth career IndyCar championship, his fourth in the last eight years, to cap off the shortened 14-race 2020 season in late October, roughly one month later than anticipated as a result of the schedule changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

With over one month of the offseason between the 2020 and 2021 seasons down, there have already been several driver confirmations for the 2021 season.

But with just over three months to go until the season is scheduled to get underway, there are still quite a few seats that have not yet been filled, and there has been a lot of speculation about these seats.

So what do we still not know about the 2021 IndyCar driver lineup as the month of December gets underway?

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The two teams from the 2020 season which have not made any confirmations about their 2021 driver lineups are Dale Coyne Racing and Carlin, which ran two cars and one car, respectively, throughout 2020.

Santino Ferrucci, who has driven for Dale Coyne Racing for two seasons, does not have a confirmed deal for next year, while Alex Palou, who drove for the team in 2020 as a rookie, is set to move to Chip Ganassi Racing to replace Felix Rosenqvist behind the wheel of the #10 Honda.

Max Chilton and Conor Daly drove part-time for Carlin throughout the 2020 season, with Chilton driving in the eight road and street course races plus the Indy 500 and Daly driving in the five non-Indy 500 oval races.

Nothing is known about A.J. Foyt Enterprises’s plans aside from the fact that Sebastian Bourdais is set to be the full-time driver of the #14 Chevrolet after competing in three races for the team in 2020.

Andretti Autosport are set to run five cars full-time again next year, but the #26 Honda and #98 Honda do not have confirmed drivers.

Zach Veach drove the former before he was replaced by James Hinchcliffe with three races remaining in the 2020 season while Marco Andretti, a part owner of the #98 Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian entry, is expected to return.

Barring any unexpected changes, such as a the long rumored third Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car, there is only one other team facing some level of driver uncertainty for next year.

Ed Carpenter Racing need to fill their second seat, the seat alongside the #21 Chevrolet driven by full-time driver Rinus VeeKay, for the 13 road and street course races. Team owner Ed Carpenter set to serve as the oval driver of that car, the #20 Chevrolet, for the eighth consecutive season.

Chip Ganassi Racing had been in a similar situation. They are set to move to four full-time cars for the first time since 2017 next year. They confirmed their three full-time drivers, and their fourth car, the #48 Honda, needed a driver for the four oval races with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson set to run the 13 road and street course races. They ended up confirming Tony Kanaan last week.

The only thing we don’t know about Team Penske is the number of the car which three-time Australian Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin is set to drive in his rookie season alongside Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud after making his series debut in the 2020 season finale.

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The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was scheduled to open up the 2020 IndyCar season for the 10th straight year back in March, but it instead concluded it in October due to the coronavirus pandemic. That race is scheduled to open up the 2021 season on the streets of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 7.