Colton Herta/Cadillac: An embarrassing farce surrounding the IndyCar star’s F1 licence

Californian Colton Herta was a star in the IndyCar Series: 16 pole positions, 9 wins, runner-up in the 2024 championship, and a race winner.

Herta took the bold step of moving to Europe, hoping to make a name for himself in Formula 2. It went completely pear-shaped, as the 26-year-old from Santa Clara was thoroughly outclassed – a fifth-place finish was his best result in a race, and he currently sits in 19th place in the championship.

It soon became clear that the Cadillac protégé would not secure the points required for the so-called Super Licence (the Formula One drivers’ licence) in Formula 2.

So Cadillac changed tack and put him in the car for the first practice session in Mexico as well. The Americans thought they knew best: 100 km in free practice would be enough for Herta to reach the 40 points required for the Super Licence.

But it is now clear that this was a fallacy. But why?

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For his IndyCar years, Colton (according to Cadillac) received 36 points: for 10th place in 2023, 2nd place in 2024 and 6th place in 2025 – the same number of points as Felix Rosenqvist. Three additional points were awarded for practice sessions in Barcelona, Budapest and Austin. Monza counted for nothing – too few kilometres.

Where Cadillac got it wrong: they believed that Herta needed just one more point ahead of Mexico. And they believed this because Herta was supposedly ranked sixth for 2025. In reality, however, Colton is seventh – as Rosenqvist achieved the higher single-race result (second, whilst Herta was only third).

Still unconfirmed by Cadillac: Colton Herta will drive in the first free practice session in Brazil to secure that final point.

Cadillac will then have to do something with the Californian, as the 2023 Super Licence points expire at the end of 2027.

Brian Herta in the paddock at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez: “I came to Europe to make it into Formula 1; that goal hasn’t changed. That’s my dream, and I’ll do everything I can to make it come true.”

It’s striking: Cadillac has announced a contract extension with Sergio Pérez, but team principal Marcin Budkowski is keeping quiet on the subject of Valtteri Bottas.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Cadillac competes in Formula 1 in 2027 with ‘Checo’ Pérez and, in 2024, with Colton Herta – the first American regular driver since Logan Sargeant at Williams.

Time is running out for Herta. That’s because in 2027, the 19-year-old New Yorker Ugo Ugochukwu will be taking part in free practice sessions, whilst the 2026 F3 champion will also be racing in Formula 2.