F1 News: How Colton Herta Narrowly Missed A Seat On The Grid In 2022 And 2023
With the news of Andretti Autosport's partnership with Cadillac as a potential new team to join Formula 1, all eyes have been on Colton Herta as the favourite to drive for the team if all goes ahead. However, this is not his first time getting close to driving on the grid.
Herta made his IndyCar debut in 2019 driving for Harding Steinbrenner Racing. He moved to Andretti in 2020 where he has competed since. Over his IndyCar career he has achieved seven wins, eleven podium finishes, and nine pole positions. His best championship finish was in 2020 when he came third.
Herta is currently in contract with Andretti competing in the IndyCar series. Speaking about Herta after last weeks announcement, Michael Andretti explained:
"We definitely have a plan to have an American driver. I think you all know who is leading the pack on that one.
"Colton we have under contract right now in IndyCar. We want to make this an all-American effort to make sure we have an American driver in the seat.”
Andretti Autosport attempted to purchase Sauber back in 2021 and whilst the negotiations were ongoing, Herta was the favourite to drive for Alfa Romeo in 2022 alongside Valtteri Bottas. Herta met with the team in Switzerland to mould the seat and test in the simulator. Mario Andretti said at the time that Herta showed fantastic initial performance during the tests, setting faster times than Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari had initially agreed to carry out a 300 km test with an F1 car to enable Herta to race in the free practice sessions at the Austin, Mexico, and Brazil Grand Prix. Unfortunately, those tests did not go ahead and the negotiations between Andretti and Sauber eventually fell apart at the end of 2021.
The American driver was then signed by McLaren in March 2022 to be a development driver and according to reports, he "seriously impressed" the team when carrying out his first test drive in July at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao.
As we got closer to the 2023 season, Red Bull expressed an interest in signing Herta to drive alongside Yuki Tsunoda for AlphaTauri after Pierre Gasly decided to leave the team for Alpine. However, Herta did not hold enough super license points to be able to compete in Formula 1, but Red Bull did not give up at this point.
The Austrian team went to the FIA to see if they would possibly make an exception for Herta. Whilst they waited for a response, they also came to an agreement with Alpine to have Herta drive in the practice sessions in Hungary in order to increase his super license points. Alpine agreed to this as part of Red Bull releasing Gasly.
The FIA refused to make any exceptions so Herta was not able to join the team, despite his success in IndyCar.
Herta is now contracted with Andretti in IndyCar until 2027 and with any new teams earliest opportunity to join the grid being 2026, this could line up for the American driver with it all being under Andretti and giving him time to rack up his super license points.