"I think it's unnecessary" - When Colton Herta called out Romain Grosjean's team for costly IndyCar mistake

After the qualifications of the 2023 Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville, Colton Herta went over to his teammate Romain Grosjean's pit box and seemed to express his disappointment at the team for sending the Frenchman out only a second before him. Herta had qualified in third but was unable to make a bid for a front row start due to the infringement.

Herta and Grosjean were teammates at Andretti during the 2023 IndyCar season. The former was left unempressed by what the sister team of the #28 car did during the 2023 Music City Grand Prix at the Nashville Street Circuit during qualifying.

During the Fast Six session, Grosjean's car was released right infront of Herta's, which supposedly disturbed the American's final run and took away his chance to put it on pole or at least make the front row. The then-23-year-old had to settle for third while his teammate was slowest in the session and qualified sixth.

After the session, Herta was seen heading over his teammates pit box to confront the team for their mistake. After the incident, Herta also explained his frustrations about the situation and why he went over to the #28 pit box, saying:

"Just wasn’t happy that, you know, there’s only six cars on track and they go out a second in front of me and they back up into me. It affects the car dramatically, aero-wise. I just wanted to know why and what happened. It sounds like it was a miscommunication, and if I finished that lap, who knows?" [via Autosport]

“I mean P3 is not bad and I’m not upset with that, but I think it’s unnecessary.” he added.

Race day turned out to be even worse for Colton Herta, as the Andretti driver had to retire from the Grand Prix after suffering a mechanical failure. While Grosjean ended the race in the same sixth place that he had started in.

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Colton Herta lost out on potential win due to team error at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix

Colton Herta driving his #26 Gainbridge Andretti during the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

Colton Herta started the inaugural race of the 2025 IndyCar season on the streets of St. Petersburg in second after a brilliant qualifying performance. But his race turned into a nightmare after a slow pitstop.

The American driver was running in the top-five up until he came into the pits on lap 36/100. After he pulled into his marks, the team had trouble getting the right-rear tire on, meaning that Herta was stationary for almost 15 seconds. This completely ruined his race and took away any chances of finishing in a strong position.

As Herta came out of the pits, he was already down to 18th place and all his good work up until that point was undone. He eventually managed to finish the race in 16th position, marking a day to forget for the American and his team.

He also expressed how 'that one hurt', later on as he reflected on the race, but still backed his team to turn things around.