Mikhail Aleshin has ceded his seat in the No. 7 Schmidt-Peterson Honda to Sebastian Saavedra for this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto.

But according to SPM General Manager Piers Phillips the driver from Russia is expected to return in two weeks at Mid-Ohio. After showing signs of speed and promise, Aleshin has struggled this season and has been involved in numerous crashes, including last Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway.

"Sam Schmidt and I reviewed the first half of the season and it would not come as a shock to anybody the run of form Mikhail has been in," Phillips told Autoweek. "Obviously, with another mistake last week at Iowa and the subsequent result in damage and work that went on this week we both made the decision to let Mikhail reset this weekend, take a sabbatical to refocus himself and come back to Mid-Ohio in a different position.

Phillips stressed it’s just ‘for this weekend’ and that Aleshin remains ‘a very important part of what we are doing.’

The driver from Moscow has displayed flashes of brilliance and speed since his Verizon IndyCar Series career began in 2014.

"We are a bit disappointed with the results this year and people can understand that but he is incredibly quick on his day and a part of the team," Phillips said. "Some people in this paddock may not agree and others may not understand it but it was our decision to stand him down this season and let him regroup and refocus for the rest of this season.

"It’s a proactive decision to try to improve Mikhail and get some better results moving forward."

Aleshin’s best race this season was a sixth-place finish in the first race of the Detroit doubleheader – the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. That is one of only three top-10 finishes he has in 11 starts in 2017.

"The first race at Detroit he really showed what he’s all about," Phillips said. "He drove that thing through the field to sixth. He was very fast at Texas. What he has is grit. He sits in that seat and digs his way through and that is what he did at Detroit."

Earlier this year at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Aleshin was forced to miss the first day of practice when he had visa issues returning from France. Robert Wickens took over Aleshin’s Honda for the Friday practice round before Aleshin took over the following day.

"Mikhail wasn’t happy about this decision but was very open-minded," Phillips said. "We had a very long conversation. He showed the minerals to come to Toronto this weekend and be involved with the team and look over the data and we’ll sit down and talk about it again over the next few days."

Phillips is impressed with Saavedra taking over the car on such short notice and would be happy with a top-12 result.

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