came up as a possible option<\/a> for one of Cadillac\u2019s two racing seats from the moment the team\u2019s entry into F1 was announced last fall. Instead, Cadillac opted for veteran drivers Bottas and P\u00e9rez.<\/p>\nThis 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.<\/p>\n
Herta needs five more super license points next year to be eligible for a 2027 race seat.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe certainly do think about it, and it\u2019s important to us to make sure there\u2019s a pathway for an American driver into Formula One,\u201d Towriss said. \u201cWe\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Analysis<\/p>\n
Through the entire trajectory of Cadillac\u2019s (and, previously, Andretti\u2019s) F1 plans, Colton Herta\u2019s name has never been far away.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
F1\u2019s draconian, long-outdated super licence points system has always been the big roadblock for Herta making the F1 switch.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.<\/p>\n
This move, therefore, comes as little surprise, with TWG Motorsports moving Herta from one of its racing properties \u2014 Andretti Global in IndyCar \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
With Sergio P\u00e9rez and Valtteri Bottas announced in race seats for 2026 on multi-year deals already, there won\u2019t 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. \u2013 Luke Smith<\/p>\n
Top photo: Gavin Baker\/Lumen via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Colton Herta is one step closer to Formula One. The nine-time IndyCar race winner has been named Cadillac\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,707,4200,4979,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-396089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-formula1","11":"tag-motorsports","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115143632854537808","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}