Schmidt Peterson’s second IndyCar ride in high demand for 2018

Since Mikhail Aleshin’s departure from the squad following the Mid-Ohio race, Sebastian Saavedra – who also subbed for Aleshin at Mid-Ohio – was tabbed for last weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway and this weekend’s IndyCar return to Gateway’s short oval. On Monday, SPM confirmed that two-time Indy Lights runner-up Jack Harvey would partner Hinchcliffe at the season’s two final races, Watkins Glen and Sonoma.

However, Schmidt told Motorsport.com that he has a huge range of options for filling the seat next year.

“It would be easier to give you the list of the drivers we haven’t talked to,” he remarked. “Since Indianapolis 500 onward, I’ve been thinking my motorhome door needs to have the lock replaced.

“Representatives for Ed Jones and Jack Hawksworth, to Takuma Sato, to Alex Rossi, to TK [Tony Kanaan]. Some have budget, some have a little budget, some are asking ridiculous things… But you know, we’d not be doing our job if we didn’t have a conversation with all of them and try to build a pyramid model of who or what’s possible.

“If you’ve won a championship and an Indy 500, then you’re likely to get a better deal than if you haven’t, and all factors are brought into play. But yeah, honestly, when I think about the grid, we’ve talked to all those out of contract this year, and even spoken with others to find how long their contracts were.

“All I can say is that we’re trying to get to that goal of where we’ve got a lineup like the [Scott] Dixon/[Dario] Franchitti era at Ganassi – two fully funded cars driven by the two best drivers available who are going to push each other towards the front, rather than fight against each other and not help each other.

“We’re still a little shy budget-wise for funding the second car.”

The possibility of Andretti Autosport switching back to Chevrolet power after four years with Honda will likely be the next major decision that will influence who is available to him.

“Michael’s decision will be the next domino to fall,” said his longtime rival teamowner in both Indy Lights and IndyCar. “Someone like Sato – he’s been competitive all year, he won Indy and he comes with Honda backing. So if Andretti switch to Chevrolet, then Sato’s obviously going to be looking for a ride, and that would be a great deal for any Honda-powered team.”

Although Felix Rosenqvist has twice tested impressively for Chip Ganassi Racing, and Schmidt admits he’d be “very interested” in the Swede, who won the European Formula 3 title and scored three victories in a partial Indy Lights season, the team owner remarked that hiring him “seems impossible” because of the 25-year-old’s Formula E contract.

Schmidt added that he believed the major interest around his team was also partly down to renewed interest in the Verizon IndyCar Series itself.

“It’s an exciting time for the series,” he said. “The teams are going to be more even with the universal aerokit, we’re hopefully moving toward a new TV package, hopefully that includes other forms of media, opportunities, creativity.

“I’d love to see a couple of international races by 2019, maybe another engine manufacturer, too. All those things seem to be percolating.”