Herta's F2 campaign has not gone as planned and he will not be scoring any superlicence points through his finish in the drivers' standings. As a result, Cadillac have had to turn to free practice appearances to make up the shortfall.

But that has also not been without its hiccups. A driver needs to complete at least 100km behind the wheel to win a superlicence point from an FP1 appearance, but technical issues limited him to just a few laps at Monza in September and so that appearance did not add to his points total.

Cadillac thought his FP1 appearance in Mexico City on Friday would get him over the line. However, the FIA has since confirmed that a discrepancy with how many superlicence points he scored last year from his final IndyCar season means he actually still needs to add one more point.

Cadillac are likely to give Herta one more FP1 session to make up the shortfall, and the fact he is American will give Herta a significant advantage. But he is not the only driver under consideration and the most prominent backup options is another driver who has not raced before in F1, but who was also on track in Mexico during FP1.

And Vesti hopes to use his connection to Cadillac's motorsport arm to propel himself into an F1 race seat. Appearing in the Sky Sports F1 commentary box during the second hour of practice on Friday, the Dane said he is "hugely privileged" to represent two factory teams as he does in Mercedes and Cadillac.

Pressed on the potentially available race seat for 2027, Vesti also confirmed: "There's no doubt I've got my eyes on that seat and it would be such a privilege to step into it."

Yuki Tsunoda has also been keen on the seat and his representatives are known to have been in contact with Cadillac. Esteban Ocon is another experienced driver looking for a new home in F1 after being axed by Haas. However, neither are believed to have much chance of being hired by Cadillac for a 2027 race seat.

Big moments. Packed grandstands. A championship battle that’s heating up.

When the Formula 1 season delivers like this, watching from home just isn’t the same as being there when the lights go out.

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