Colton Herta is one step closer to Formula One.
The nine-time IndyCar race winner has been named Cadillac’s first Formula One test driver, the team announced Wednesday, as preparations continue ahead of its 2026 debut season.
Herta becomes the latest driver signed by Cadillac, joining the confirmed race lineup of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez.
As a test driver, his duties will focus on simulator work, testing programs and car development.
“Colton is an exceptionally talented racer with proven speed, race craft, and maturity well beyond his years,” Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon said in a statement. “His experience in top-level American motorsport as part of the TWG Motorsport family makes him an ideal fit for this role, and he will bring valuable and fresh insight, perspective, and energy to our team as we continue to build for the future.”
For Herta, 25, the move marks a return to Europe nearly a decade after his junior formula stint across the Euroformula Open Championship and British F3. During that spell, he scored four wins and six podiums before heading back to the U.S. to launch a career in IndyCar with the Andretti team.
Since then, Herta has built a solid résumé, with nine victories, 16 poles and the record as the youngest IndyCar race winner and polesitter.
“This is a dream opportunity, and one I’ve been working towards for a long time,” Herta said in a statement. “To be part of Cadillac F1’s entry at such a pivotal time is something I couldn’t pass up. My dream has always been to race in Formula 1, and I see this move as a huge step towards that goal. For now, my focus is on giving everything I can to Cadillac F1, helping build a competitive team.”
Formula 1’s presence in the United States has grown rapidly in recent years. Cadillac’s entry, backed by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, gives American fans a homegrown team to rally behind — now paired with an American driver.
Due to his success in IndyCar and American roots, Herta’s name came up as a possible option for one of Cadillac’s two racing seats from the moment the team’s entry into F1 was announced last fall. Instead, Cadillac opted for veteran drivers Bottas and Pérez.
This is not the first time Herta has been linked to F1, having previously been targeted by both Andretti and Red Bull for race seats that ultimately fell through because of super licence hurdles. Drivers earn super license points through success in junior racing series. Once they collect 40 points within three years, they qualify to race in F1.
Herta needs five more super license points next year to be eligible for a 2027 race seat.
The addition of Herta as a test driver appears to fulfill the reaffirmed commitment made by Dan Towriss, the CEO of Cadillac team owner TWG Motorsports, to eventually have an American driver in the car.
“We certainly do think about it, and it’s important to us to make sure there’s a pathway for an American driver into Formula One,” Towriss said. “We’ll be working on that. But I think for this inaugural season, for what the team needs, and again, really with what these drivers bring, this was the right combination.”
Analysis
Through the entire trajectory of Cadillac’s (and, previously, Andretti’s) F1 plans, Colton Herta’s name has never been far away.
Michael Andretti had sights for Herta to race in F1 as early as 2021, when a deal to buy a stake in Sauber fell apart at the 11th hour. In his bid to make an all-American team, extending to the cockpit, Herta was the driver he wanted.
F1’s draconian, long-outdated super licence points system has always been the big roadblock for Herta making the F1 switch. Red Bull had eyed Herta for Toro Rosso back in 2023, when Pierre Gasly was bound for Alpine, only for him not to have the required success in IndyCar to gain the points for a super licence. The FIA was unwilling to grant dispensation despite many in both the U.S. and Europe having little doubt over his abilities, having been a contemporary of Lando Norris in junior categories.
This move, therefore, comes as little surprise, with TWG Motorsports moving Herta from one of its racing properties — Andretti Global in IndyCar — to another one, as well as giving him the chance to finally get across the line for his super licence with a likely campaign in F2.
With Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas announced in race seats for 2026 on multi-year deals already, there won’t be any immediate rush for Herta. But between racing back in Europe and some testing, the foundations will be there for him to earn an eventual shot at racing in F1. – Luke Smith
Top photo: Gavin Baker/Lumen via Getty Images