Colton Herta's unusual penalty "not a good look" for IndyCar, says insider

Colton Herta had an impressive showing at the Thermal Club Grand Prix but was docked 10 points after the race due to his car not being in adherence with the rules. However, Felix Rosenqvist's running over equipment in the pitlane was looked over by the stewards. Witnessing the hypocrisy, IndyCar insider Marshall Pruett deemed such headlines not a good look for the sport.

The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix was not over even after the Chequered flag fell. While a lot of overtaking and incidents happened throughout the race, the frenzy began after the race.

Colton Herta was docked 10 points in the championship, along with several other penalties for his car not having the required safety devices on board, a statement that Andretti dejected. This was followed up with PREMA receiving a similar penalty for Robert Shwartzman's car for not having the proper fire impression system on board, which failed when the car burnt down during the first practice session.

On the other hand, one other incident happened during the race involving Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist. The Swede drove over a pit gun on the pit road, which everyone thought would have resulted in the MSR driver earning a penalty. But the stewards turned a blind eye to the issue as they asserted how no one was hurt from Rosenqvist's driving over the pit equipment.

However, this change in stringency led many to question IndyCar's giving a level playing field. Moreover, Pruett was on the same side of the equation as he deemed the situation not being a good outlook for the sport, as he said, via RACER:

"Apparently not. This surprised me as well. Also, on the wonky application of rules/penalties, Colton Herta and Robert Shwartzman weren’t docked any points in the Drivers’ championship because the technical compliance violations on their cars were ‘non-competition’ items. What?

"The teams were fined and lost Entrants’ points, but running over wheel guns and two cars being illegal — again, we didn’t know a thing about this until the series told us — but the refs just swallow the whistle on the drivers? Not a good look so far in 2025."

Colton Herta's fourth-place finish at Thermal Club was his first top-five finish of the season.

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Colton Herta asserts he needs to get a championship under his belt

Colton Herta at the NTT IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Colton Herta was last year's runner-up in the championship. Though it was his best-ever result in the series, the Andretti driver shared how it sucked being so close to winning his maiden title, and admitted how he needed to get a title under his belt soon. He said, via IndyCar:

"As nice as it was for that being my highest place (finish), yeah, it really does suck to be that close and to not do it. (I) need to get that championship."

The next IndyCar race is scheduled to take place at Long Beach in California. Colton Herta is a former winner of the race, having won the fabled event in 2021, and will be hoping to recreate the feat in a week's time.