F1 drivers weigh in on Colton Herta potentially competing in FIA F2 alongside his Cadillac test role, in a bid to secure enough superlicense points.
IndyCar racer Herta has 35 superlicense points currently, which will be 34 by the time he potentially starts his F2 campaign in 2026. The American youngster was announced to join Cadillac as its test driver after leaving Andretti – the seat taken up by Will Power, who left Team Penske.
Even though it hasn’t been made official but Herta will most certainly compete in F2 in 2026, potentially with Prema Team. This won’t be the first time for the 25-year-old in Europe or the UK. He had a stint in 2015 and 2016, when he competed in MSA F4 and Euroformula Open mainly.
He dovetailed it with some rounds in Spanish F3 and British F3. But he moved back to America in 2017, which led to a full-time IndyCar move in 2019. He tried to make a F1 move but lack of superlicense points hurt his chances. With Cadillac entering the sport, he has renewed passion to make it in.
After seven years in IndyCar series, it is a bold step to compete in a feeder series like F2, but the American is ready for the challenge in a bid to make it in F1. Several of the current drivers shared their thoughts on such move, which includes Lando Norris, who competed against him.
Here’s what they thought –
Lando Norris: “I mean, it’s tricky. How difficult is it? It’ll probably not [be] difficult for him, because he’s good at jumping in all different types of cars, and that’s something he’s done his whole life. He’s an extremely talented driver, and [someone] I enjoyed a lot growing up with in 2015. Not difficult, I think he’s skilled enough to jump in anything and be quick, but being one of the best in Formula 1 is what’s difficult, and if that’s still his goal, if his goal is still to not just come in as a test driver, but in the next few years to become a Formula 1 driver and a race driver then, of course, it gets tricky. But, yeah, he’s easily capable of potentially being in Formula 1 and those kind of things, and I look forward to hopefully seeing him here. It’s not my decision. I think he’s probably easily capable of driving a Formula 1 car and driving it at an incredibly high level.
“He’s probably better than most other drivers that are in the ranks and coming up in F3 and F2 itself. I don’t think so, if I was the boss. I think there’s still a certain allowance of, you know, you have to qualify in some way. I don’t think you can just be an ‘Old Billy’ and just give them to whoever you want in Formula 1 but IndyCar, I think, is one of the toughest series in the world. I think it’s an incredibly tough car to drive, and I’ve driven it myself, but you can tell all those things, the level of all these drivers is incredibly high. So, I don’t know how many [FIA Super Licence] points they get in IndyCar, but I would put it above the level of Formula 2, in a way. They [IndyCar drivers] should [get more points]. Not my decision at the end of the day and I can’t change it.”
Oliver Bearman: “That will be interesting for sure. I wish him the best of luck, it will be really cool to see… Of course the level is very high in IndyCar, but to see him come to Europe and see how he gets on is going to be really nice. F1 testing [helped me than F2 campaign]. It’s a tough one. I don’t know the specifics of how it works in IndyCar, but when you look at a qualifying or a race, it seems like they’re really going for it. So I hope he’s enjoyed that way of racing. Over here, it’s a bit different.
“Also, having grown up racing cars in Europe, you’re used to the fact that you do a single push lap and then you cool the tyres down straight away. That’s just how it is, for better or for worse. So it’ll be interesting. For me, it was the step from Formula 4 to Formula 3, where you went from pushing maybe five or six laps in a row to then just pushing one lap. It’s tough to get all of the performance out of one lap, because you have less rhythm and less consecutive laps. So it’s tough. But he’s clearly a very good driver, so I’m sure he’ll get around it in no time.”
Oscar Piastri: “Both [F1 testing and feeder series] have different purposes in some ways. I think being on an F1 weekend, racing alongside F1, that’s an important thing. His situation is a little bit different because he’s obviously the Cadillac test driver already, so it’s not so much about getting yourself in front of the paddock and in front of eyeballs. I think definitely being on an F1 weekend feels quite different to the racing I did before I was on an F1 weekend, so I think that’s definitely important. The F1 testing, obviously getting up to speed in an F1 car is an important thing, but that testing has a limit to its uses.
“The tires are not representative. You’re often doing it in winter or at times when the tracks are not that rubbered in. There’s not other cars around, the car’s old…there’s a lot of limits to it, but certainly getting up to speed in an F1 car and just getting your brain used to all the different things you can change, all the things and the speed at which things happen – I’m sure he’ll be fine, coming from Indy! – but there’s definitely kind of purpose to both.”
Gabriel Bortoleto: “Look, I’m going to be very honest, I don’t know him so much. I don’t know him at all, so I’m not going to say I want to drive with him because I don’t know him. I think he has a lot of experience from IndyCar and I think it’s a very strong series as well, so he will be able to adapt and do well if he’s as strong in Indy as I believe he is.”
Here’s news on Colton Herta joining Cadillac