Overheard in Toronto – Friday

A lot of rumors center around what Michael Andretti may or may not be doing in 2018

The rumors were running hot and heavy Friday in the IndyCar paddock for the Honda Indy Toronto.

Recall that Racer.com rumored that Michael Andretti is talking to Chevy about engine supply for 2018. If this rumors are true, then Andretti has at least one seat to fill in 2018 – Takuma Sato who of course will move to a Honda team if Andretti moves to Chevy power.

And this is where it gets interesting. We hear that Fernando Alonso has expressed interest in running the season finale at Sonoma, but that race conflicts with the Singapore GP Formula 1 race. So we doubt that rumor is true, but we'll see. But we keep hearing he wants to race in IndyCar in 2018, probably with Andretti Autosport, but again we'll believe it when we see it. He makes too much money in F1 to leave that series for IndyCar.

We also hear that James Hinchcliffe may be in a Chevy powered car next year and if the Andretti to Chevy rumor is true, and if Michael needs to hire a driver, then maybe Hinch drives for Andretti next year.

Don't be surprised to see Canadian IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, racing in a stock car sometime in the near future reports the Toronto Star.

Although he's committed to his open wheel Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) team, the 30-year-old from Oakville would like to get his feet wet on a road course in NASCAR's second tier Xfinity Series sooner rather than later.

"We hit the ground pretty hard in the last 18 months trying to make it happen," says Hinchcliffe, who has had contact with some NASCAR outfits but things haven't progressed to the point where there's any solid lead on a seat.

"I have always wanted to try it and a road course is the best way to ease into it. We want to do it right but it's not something I am looking at in anticipation of a career switch."

In addition, the Xfinity Series will visit the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course on Aug. 12, where Hinchcliffe has raced twice in Indy Lights and five times in IndyCar. As a bonus, he will have started his sixth IndyCar race there (the Mid-Ohio 200) two weeks before the Xfinity Series arrives at the track.

Aeroscreen (called Shield) on Vettel's Ferrari

The test of the new aeroscreen by Sebastian Vettel this morning on his Ferrari at Silverstone was a major failure. Vettel said it distorted his vision, made him dizzy, and the downforce of the wind coming over the aeroscreen and into the cockpit bounced his head around like a ping pong ball. Two laps and he pulled in, demanding it be removed from the car. Couple that with the fact it makes the car look hideous and you can expect similar reaction when IndyCar tests it.

Talk is that ABC and NBC will again split the races with the new IndyCar TV deal. There is no other broadcaster interested we hear. We also hear that ABC won't be the only one putting races on network TV. Let's hope all the races are on ABC and NBC, and only qualifying on cable TV.

We ran into former IndyCar driver Alex Tagliani who is racing the #18 Lowe's car in the Pinty Canadian NASCAR Series. Tagliani was leading two of the races only to get the chrome horn and be pushed aside.

When in doubt, follow the money. We hear that the reason Aleshin is not in the car this weekend, and Saavedra is, has everything to do with money. See our video interview with Sebastian Saavedra on the Hot News page. He found out he was driving this weekend about a day ago.

"It's a little bit of a last-minute scenario, which leaves very little time to prepare," Saavedra said. "We went out there and tried to get familiar with this Honda-powered machine. This is my first time in a Honda-powered car with this aero kit, so definitely there's a lot to learn, but altogether very positive."

We talked to Mikhail Aleshin but he is forbidden to talk about why he is not in the car. We suspect it is political had has something to do with USA sanctions on Russia and the inability of his sponsorship money to get into the USA. He is sponsored by SMP Racing which is a combination of Russian Government money and private investment to support Russian 21 drivers in various race series around the world, from F1 on down.

The track here in Toronto is even bumpier this year, which means we will see more errors in the race, and hence more passing under braking. The softer red tires that Firestone brought here this weekend are even softer than last year's so we expect a new track record in qualifying Saturday.

Jake Query of the INDYCAR Radio Network’s broadcast on Friday morning in Toronto talked to Indy Lights Series driver Colton Herta during the opening Verizon IndyCar Series practice session from the streets of Toronto, and he talked about the second generation drivers’ current season and plans for the future.

Herta, 17, all but confirmed that he will be back here in the series in 2018 as he opened up on his and the teams plans. Herta said that unless he wins the Indy Lights championship this season, the plan is for him to be back in the series next season with the same Indy Lights team. Currently, Herta is third in the standings, 35 points out of the lead. If he can close the gap a bit and win the title, he’d get the $1-million Mazda Road to Indy scholarship money which guarantees him at least three races in the Verizon IndyCar Series, one of which the Indianapolis 500.

Ed Jones

Hearing that Jimmy Vasser and James Sullivan, formerly with KV Racing, are trying to put a deal together with Indy Lights team owner Trevor Carlin to form an IndyCar team in 2018. Time will tell.

Dale Coyne driver Ed Jones is struggling a bit with brakes here in Toronto. Like most drivers he is a left foot braker and recall he broke his left foot in the Texas crashfest. Drivers have to use the brakes aggressively here in Toronto – we talked to Ed about it – see our video on Hot News. Mark C. reporting live from Toronto