Colton Herta offers blunt response to F1 future as Cadillac entry looms in 2026

Colton Herta isn't amused by the speculations about his potential move to the Cadillac F1 team in 2026. The rumors have been swirling ever since November 2024, when Cadillac Director Mario Andretti admitted to having the Andretti Global IndyCar driver on the team's radar.

On January 14, Herta bluntly put an end to the topic during IndyCar's first content day of 2025. When questioned about whether age will play a matter when it comes to an F1 move, especially with the Cadillac F1 opportunity in the backdrop, Herta replied [10:50 onwards]:

"I don't really have a concern with it at all. I've kind of been dragged around in this (F1) talk for... feels like half a decade now and I've had the carrot in front of me for a while. So I'm tired of that being the case. I just want to drive at this point and focus on IndyCar this year and focus on winning the championship, and if something arises out of that, I'd have to think about it."

"It's still not a for-sure thing. All my friends and family are here in the US and I don't know anybody where I'm going (F1). So it's a big decision to make if I have to make a decision."

For 2025, Colton Herta's sole focus is winning his maiden IndyCar championship, which he had emphasized after his breakthrough oval win at the 2024 season finale in Nashville.

The No. 26 Andretti Global driver was previously linked with an F1 move in 2023 with AlphaTauri (now Visa Cash App RB). However, the FIA rejected rejected his application as he was ineligible to race at the pinnacle of motorsport, possessing only 32 out of the 40 required points on his super license.

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Colton Herta gives a sarcastic reply when asked about super license requirement for F1 entry

Colton Herta, 2023 Grand Prix Of Long Beach - Acura Grand Prix Media Luncheon - Source: Getty

Colton Herta currently has 31 points on his super license. He earned 1 point for finishing tenth in the IndyCar standings in 2023 and 30 points for finishing runner-up in the 2024 IndyCar season.

F1's governing body, the FIA, considers points accumulated over the three years preceding the application year or the two years preceding it and the year of the application. If Herta can earn 9 or more points in 2025, he can race in F1. To do that, he has to finish in a minimum fourth position in the standings, which will earn him 10 points.

When a reporter presented Herta with this fourth-position math on Tuesday and asked him about the pressure surrounding it, he replied:

"I guess the answer to do that is I didn't even know what the math was to get a super license. If it happens, it happens, great. Then I'll have a decision to make... if I'm still wanted. If it doesn't happen, then poor me, I'm stuck racing Indy cars. I'll be alright either way." [6:28 onwards]

Even if he finished fifth in the standings, that would give him 8 points, and he could earn the remaining one point by completing 100 kilometers in an F1 practice session in 2025.

Herta, the youngest IndyCar race winner had a career best season in 2024. For the first time, he finished runner-up in the standings.