Saavedra replaces Aleshin at Schmidt

Mikhail Aleshin's time as a Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver has come to an end.

The speedy Russian exits the No. 7 Honda for Verizon IndyCar Series veteran Sebastian Saavedra and his team owner/sponsor Gary Peterson, whose Automatic Fire Sprinkler company and AFS Racing team will partner with SPM on the entry for the 27-year-old Colombian.

Although no reasoning was provided for the driver change, Aleshin entered the season with questions surrounding the amount of sponsorship he was able to bring for his third season with the team. It's believed a decreased support level from his Russian backers, SMP Racing, placed a greater financial burden on team owners Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson to find money and fill the void to keep Aleshin in the car.

A string of expensive, cash-burning crashes this season by Aleshin, including a solo spin and hard impact last weekend at Iowa, could have hastened the move to a funded co-entry arrangement with AFS Racing.

Aleshin was unavailable for comment when contacted by RACER, and SPM reports he will be in Toronto this weekend to "support" the team. Calls to Peterson and Saavedra were also unsuccessful.

For SPM's James Hinchcliffe, who won the Long Beach Grand Prix in April and holds 12th in the championship standings heading into his home race, the arrival of Saavedra marks the Canadian's second new teammate in a span of three races.

Citing visa issues, Aleshin was unable to travel from France to America to take part in the first day of running at Road America in June. Hinchcliffe's close friend Robert Wickens deputized for Aleshin on Friday in Wisconsin, made a strong impression in two practice outings, and then stepped out of the No. 7 when Aleshin arrived after getting his travel issues sorted.

Saavedra's lone start this year came at the Indy 500 in a Juncos Racing/AFS Racing entry. He started 31st and finished 15th. By driving the No. 7, Saavedra will be reunited with his former Indy Lights engineer Blair Perschbacher.

With 61 IndyCar starts to his credit, the 2015 Indy Grand Prix pole winner will make his first street course appearance since the Toronto event in 2015 where he finished 16th for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Provided Aleshin does not return to SPM, his record stands at 38 races with the team and a best result of second, which he achieved at Houston 2 in 2014, and again at Pocono last year. So far this year, Aleshin's best came at Detroit 1 where he placed sixth. The 30-year-old Moscow native is 16th in the championship standings among 19 full-time drivers.