Herta to make shock IndyCar-to-F2 switch

Colton Herta will make a shock switch from IndyCar to Formula 2 in 2026, Cadillac Formula 1 team CEO Dan Towriss has announced.

Cadillac has hired F1 veterans Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as its race drivers for its maiden campaign in the world championship, and named Herta as a test and development driver on Wednesday, with the American brand eager to promote drivers from the United States.

However, the biggest news is Herta’s switch to F2, which is unprecedented for an IndyCar frontrunner in the modern era. The 2024 IndyCar runner-up will move back to junior single-seaters in order to prepare for a potential F1 debut in 2027.

“We’ve been fortunate to keep Colton at Andretti in the IndyCar team, and so now, he’s going to pursue that dream in Formula 1,” Towriss, also a CEO of the TWG Motorsports group whose portfolio includes the Andretti IndyCar and Cadillac F1 outfits, told the Off Track with Hinch and Rossi podcast. “And to do that, he’s going to take a pretty big risk.

“He’s leaving IndyCar, he’s not going directly to Formula 1 – this is a test and development driver role – and so he’s going to be going into F2. He’s got to learn tracks, he’s got to learn tyres – tyres are a big part of that, very different from IndyCar from that standpoint. I couldn’t be more proud of Colton, to be willing to take that risk to pursue his dream.”

Does Herta have a real chance to get a Cadillac F1 seat for 2027? “I’m confident Colton will get his shot, but he’s got to earn it, right?” Towriss pointed out. “He’s taking that risk.

“I think people should really take note of and admire Colton for that bold move. He’s not entitled to the seat. He’s not guaranteed the seat from that standpoint. He’s going over to prove that he belongs in Formula 1.

“What I applaud most about him is his willingness to be uncomfortable. When you come to a fork in the road, the most comfortable thing he could have done was say, ‘I’m well paid, I’m going to stay in IndyCar and go try to achieve this next thing’, but he chose the unconventional path. He chose something that’s a very uncomfortable situation – there’s a lot of new things that are going to come at him.

“He’s going to grow tremendously, and he’s got a big opportunity in front of him.”

25-year-old Herta previously got close to F1 seats on several occasions, first of all when Andretti attempted to acquire the Sauber operation in 2021. “He went over to Switzerland, got on the simulator, and within an hour was faster than the two Formula 1 drivers with the team at that time,” Towriss recounted, with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi the aforementioned drivers.

The Sauber deal fell through due to “control issues in the final hours of the negotiations”, Michael Andretti stated in November 2021.

Colton Herta, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: McLaren

As Andretti kept applying for an F1 entry, Herta ran a two-day test with McLaren in Portimao in July 2022, and Red Bull started looking at the Californian as a potential replacement for Alpine-bound Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri.

However, despite taking third and fifth in the IndyCar standings in 2020 and 2021, Herta was not eligible to a superlicence. Alpine was even ready to facilitate a private test in order to make Gasly’s transfer easier – the Frenchman did have a contract with AlphaTauri for 2023 – but the FIA rejected Herta’s superlicence request and Red Bull gave up on Herta.

But the vast experience Herta has accumulated at a relatively young age has made him the most attractive American driver for Cadillac.

“He’s built up a natural body of work that not everybody knows about in Formula 1, in terms of some of the tests that he’s done from that standpoint, even to drawing interest from Red Bull later on from there,” Towriss insisted, before being asked by Alexander Rossi why Herta could be the path for the future of Cadillac’s F1 team.

“Colton, through the various tests we’ve talked about, has shown a high potential in a Formula 1-type car,” Towriss replied. “He’s very good at high-commitment corners, he’s done very well on street, road-type courses.” Every single one of Herta’s nine IndyCar victories was taken on those types of tracks, as well as 10 out of his other 11 podium finishes.

“Colton also adapts to new information very, very quickly, and his driving style has been adapted to doing a lot of complex things in the car,” Towriss added. “All of those are going to be skills that are needed in Formula 1.”