Driver Debrief: You can come home again

By Mikhail Aleshin | Published: Dec 18, 2015

Mikhail Aleshin

Throughout the season, IndyCar.com will provide a series of diaries from drivers competing in the Verizon IndyCar Series and Mazda Road to Indy. Today, Mikhail Aleshin describes his feelings on returning to the Verizon IndyCar Series and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

I feel like I am back with my family again.

After being away from the Verizon IndyCar Series for almost all of 2015, it is great to know I will be with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports again next season, and for the whole season. We tested last week at Sebring and it just makes me more excited for 2016.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is a very good team and we had a great experience together in 2014. Together with SMP Racing, my sponsor in Russia who has a great racing program in many series, we thought that it would be great to come back to INDYCAR. I'm very happy that we could put it all together so I can become be a part of this team again. They are all like a family to me.

It was hard for me to be away this year. Of course, I wanted to come back to INDYCAR, but at the same time SMP Racing needed me to help with the BR01 LMP2 prototype development in the European Le Mans Series. It’s a great car and the fact that in half of the races we entered, it finished on the podium, speaks for itself. It was a very interesting and important experience for me. That car is going to win many races!

But I can’t wait to get back full-time in the Verizon IndyCar Series. I have no words, only emotions because I am so excited. It's really one of the best and most competitive series I've been to. So it's really great to be back, as I feel I have huge potential to show up here.

I was able to drive in the last race this season at Sonoma, so I did get some experience with the new aero kits. I was very surprised on the '15 kit’s downforce level when I did the final race in Sonoma. The car became faster and more physical to drive, which makes it even more challenging for drivers, which makes me even more interested to drive. Driving an Indy car is real racing, which you don’t see so often in these days, and I'm very happy to take this challenge!

See you at the track real soon.