SPM, Aleshin officially part ways

A messy season for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Mikhail Aleshin has come to an end for the second time in less than a month. According to the team, the latest split, announced via a statement on social media Saturday afternoon, is final.

“[Aleshin] will not be returning to the No. 7 Honda for the remainder of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season,” the statement read.

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Aleshin says he will focus the rest of his year on helping his sponsor, SMP Racing, to develop a new LMP1-L (non-hybrid) chassis for introduction in 2018.

“The SMP LMP1 car is at a very important stage in its creation, and this is what I will spend all my time working on,” he told RACER. “It’s a very cool car that is very advanced.”

Aleshin did not rule out a return to IndyCar at some point in the future, but admitted the immediate prospects are slim.

“I love racing in IndyCar and would very much like to continue at some point, so I’ll never say never, but this sports car project is the new priority for me,” he said.

An awkward summer of mixed signals, including missing practice at Road America due to travel issues, being parked for Toronto, returning for Mid-Ohio and losing his ride altogether one week before Pocono caps a strange journey for the Russian.

The 30-year-old made his IndyCar debut with SPM in 2014 where he displayed an aptitude for ovals, despite having never raced on the blend of superspeedways and short tracks that are unique to the series. Sanctions by the U.S. government toward the end of 2014 aimed at a number of Russian banks with questionable ties severed the ability for SMP Racing to pay its bills in America, which ended Aleshin’s time with SPM.

A change to those sanctions opened the door for his return in 2016, and once old SMP debts were settled with SPM, Aleshin partnered with James Hinchcliffe as an effective driver pairing. Keen to maintain consistency this year, SPM kept Aleshin, despite having to fill a larger portion of his budget due to sponsorship reductions by SMP, but the driver of the No. 7 Honda fell into a regular cycle of crashing and making mistakes.

Replaced by AFS Racing’s Sebastian Saavedra at Toronto on three days’ notice, the Colombian – two years removed from his last road or street course race – thoroughly impressed the team with a stirring drive to 11th place.

Reached poolside by RACER, Saavedra was coy when asked if he’ll be in the No. 7 at Pocono.

"It’s only Saturday…that means I have a few days to wait to hear about if I’m driving,” he said with a laugh.