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IndyCar, Formula 1 news, Silly Season rumors

September 3, 2025

Colton Herta isn’t hiding it: He wants to race in Formula 1 and Wednesday announced he will be a test driver for Cadillac F1.
Herta called it a “dream opportunity” to join the American F1 team set to debut with veteran drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez in 2026.
It also signals the end of Herta’s tenure with Andretti’s IndyCar team, at least for now.

A seven-year stint that has seen nine race wins, 16 poles and a career-best championship runner-up finsh in 2024, Colton Herta is leaving IndyCar, vacating his No. 26 Andretti Global ride for a test driver role within Cadillac F1, as well as a racing program to be announced at a later date.

A shocking, though not an unexpected move to many in the paddock leaving the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night, the career shift firmly positions Herta to be pursuing a future as a Formula 1 driver, which he’s come close to multiple times in his career but been held back from due to the FIA’s archaic super license points formula that vastly undervalues IndyCar championship finishes and weights them somewhere in between Formula 2 and Formula 3.

Leaving Nashville with 35 of the 40 points necessary to obtain a license via his 10th- (1 point, 2023), second- (30 points, 2024) and seventh-place (4 points, 2025) championship finishes the last three years, Herta will lose credit for his 10th-place finish in 2023 in place of wherever he might compete in 2026 — many in the IndyCar paddock believe that’s Formula 2 — meaning he’d need to pick up six super license points either from F1 practice participation or championship finishes in another series in order for the 25-year-old American driver to be in the fray for a possible F1 shot in 2027 and beyond.

Runing as a test driver for Cadillac F1, which is co-owned by TWG Motorsports, the parent company of the Andretti Global IndyCar team, will also similarly prepare Herta for that major leap, giving him seat time in a modern F1 car as well as access to Cadillac F1’s interworkings as it joins the F1 grid as an expansion team in 2026.

Herta previously ran an F1 test program for McLaren in 2022 as part of its testing of previous car setup. He nearly landed an F1 driver role ahead of the 2022 season when Michael Andretti, backed by Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, were negotiating for a controlling stake of the Sauber F1 team, a deal that fell through at the 11th hour. Herta was also courted by the team previously known as Alpha Tauri, Red Bull F1’s B team, toward the end of 2022, but Herta lacked the necessary super license points at the end of that season to be able to qualify for the seat.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining the Cadillac Formula 1 team as a test driver. This is a dream opportunity and one I’ve been working toward for a long time,” Herta said. “To be part of Cadillac F1’s entry at such a pivotal time is something I couldn’t pass up.

“My dream has always been to race in Formula 1, and I see this move as a huge step toward that goal. For now, my focus is on giving everything I can to Cadillac F1, helping build a competitive team.”

Last week, Cadillac F1 announced seasoned race-winning veterans, both with world drivers championship runner-up finishes to their resumes, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez as the team’s driver lineup for its debut season.

“We are delighted to welcome Colton Herta as a test driver (to Cadillac F1),” team principal Graeme Lowdon said. “Colton is an exceptionally talented racer with proven speed, race craft and maturity well beyond his years.

“His experience in top-level American motorsports as part of the TWG Motorsports family makes him an ideal fit for this role, and he will bring valuable and fresh insight, perspective and energy to ou team as we continue to build for the future.”

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