Colton Herta handed massive lifeline in bid to race in F1 despite disastrous F2 season

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Colton Herta may yet land the points he needs despite a poor season in Formula 2 (Image: Getty)

Colton Herta's Formula One dream is not yet dead despite a disastrous attempt at earning a chance to compete in the sport by swapping IndyCar for Formula Two. The 26-year-old is a nine-time winner in the American single-seater series, one of the most prominent motorsport championships in the world. But he gave up his place on the IndyCar grid to race against junior drivers in F2 this year, in the hope of earning the points he needs to earn the superlicence required to race in F1.

It was a huge risk, but it has not paid off. With two race weekends remaining in the F2 season, Herta is 19th in the championship with just 26 points scored. He has only finished in the points on five occasions out of the 23 races he has started.

The learning curve was always going to be steep and, bearing that in mind, he made a relatively promising start. Herta scored in each of the first three feature races of the season and secured his best result of the season so far with fifth place in the Barcelona sprint race.

But that was as good as the season so far got. Herta failed to kick on and has scored only once in his last 14 starts. As a result, the 10th-placed finish or higher that Cadillac were targeting for their American hope is out of reach.

In recent weeks, there have been suggestions Herta is looking for a way to IndyCar, having potentially accepted defeat in his bid to work his way onto the F1 grid. He said himself that he was "not interested in another year in Formula 2", though he later clarified that his focus is "still on getting into F1".

And it seems Herta may yet still be able to qualify for a superlicence irrespective of his finish in the F2 standings. A driver needs 40 points to qualify, with their results from the last three years used to calculate how many they have.

Herta scored 30 by finishing second in the IndyCar championship in 2024, adding to the one he earned by finishing 10th the previous year. Four more were secured through ending 2025 seventh in the standings in his final season in the American series before switching to the FIA ladder.

Those results put him on 35 superlicence points, while he has been able to top up his total through FP1 appearances so far. He has driven four times in first practice sessions for Cadillac this year, and earned points for his work at the events in Barcelona, Austria and Austin on Friday this week.

Colton Herta has now driven in four FP1 sessions this year for Cadillac (Image: Getty)

Herta also took part in FP1 at Monza, but only completed five laps in Sergio Perez's car. That left him way short of the 100km of running required to earn a point, and so he didn't gain anything from that appearance. So there are 38 superlicence points accounted for, though Cadillac believe he has 39 – without explaining where they think that extra point is from.

If they are right, Herta needs to make one more free practice appearance this year, and he will have to drive two FP1s if they are wrong. No further appearances are scheduled as it stands, though it is understood Cadillac hope to give him the chance to win his superlicences as best as they can.

Herta said after his Circuit of the Americas drive on Friday: "It's super important to pick up the points when I can. I hope [to drive another FP1 session this year] and I think we're still figuring some stuff out with the team, and they'll have a better idea.

"To be honest, I don't know where I'm at [in terms of superlicence points]. I've spent so many years thinking about it and worrying about it that I let other people do it for me. My goal is still to be in Formula One and the goal is to get there as soon as possible with Cadillac, with GM, with TWG, and this is where I want to be. So I am focused on trying to get here as soon as possible."

If Herta were to win a superlicence, it would give Cadillac another option should they choose to change driver amid Valtteri Bottas' ongoing struggle to find race pace. As it stands, their other option is Esteban Ocon who is seeking an F1 seat for 2027 having been axed by Haas.

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