Andretti says Herta is on the prime of Cadillac’s F1 driver checklist

In accordance with racing legend and Cadillac advisor Mario Andretti, American IndyCar driver Colton Herta is nonetheless the odds-on favourite to be referred to as up for driving responsibility when the group hits the Formulation 1 grid for the 2026 season. And he says the Normal-Motors-backed squad is seeking to finalize its driver roster quickly.

“Trying again on the means Colton has educated from the very starting of his younger profession — as you realize, he began in Formulation 3 and so forth with the likes of Lando Norris, and he is performed some F1 testing,” Andretti mentioned. “Zak Brown gave him a superb take a look at at Portimao in Portugal. It is best to see the report that we received from [team principal] Andrea Stella. And Andrea is a person that claims it like it’s — so once more, [Herta’s] an excellent candidate. And all of this must be confirmed, in fact, however getting into, he is a superb guess, for my part.”

The once-Andretti-branded eleventh group has by no means made a secret of eager to pair an American driver with an skilled F1 veteran. As Andretti talked about, Herta has already examined an F1 automobile for McLaren at Portimao, again in 2022. In 2024, he ended his IndyCar season with Andretti World as runner-up within the sequence, and can proceed his title hunt with the group for 2025.

“Some errors have been made final yr that price him a championship, and sadly that occurs,” Andretti advised Motorsport. “Typically you set an excessive amount of stress on your self and you then make that mistake. However while you have a look at the substances that have been there, you had the substances of a champion. However for simply a kind of situations, he may have been champion. So, while you look again and assess all these issues, you have to really feel fairly good.”

When requested if he felt the 24-year-old confirmed a unique facet to his recreation in 2024 by being a extra constant frontrunner to match his pure flip of velocity, Andretti mentioned. “Not solely that, however he is additionally very versatile. He is good in each space, just like the ovals, brief ovals, superspeedway. He is aggressive in every single place, so he is positively championship materials.

As for the timing of signing drivers, Andretti confirmed that the method is in progress. “All the things is on-going proper now. You consider these issues each day, and that is going to change into official in all probability mid-year,” he mentioned.

“We’re clearly each side of each alternative that is there. It is clear that the targets are to have not less than one American driver after which one other skilled driver alongside, and begin like that.”

One among Herta’s subsequent hurdles: getting his FIA superlicense. Profitable the 2024 IndyCar season finale in Nashville briefly raised his superlicense factors tally to 39, out of a required 40. However as of the brand new yr, Herta has 32 factors, a results of his 2021 season dropping out of the superlicense complete that pushes Herta farther again from the magic quantity.

Ending within the prime 5 this IndyCar season would get him totally throughout the road. However Herta may also earn one level per Formulation 1 FP1 session, so long as he completes 100km in every outing. With groups now being required to run 4 rookies per yr in apply classes, there could also be extra alternatives for Herta to log essential superlicense factors and get helpful seat time.