"One of the worst things ever" - Colton Herta explains the paradox of his IndyCar career highlight

The 2024 championship was Colton Herta's best season in the IndyCar series as the Andretti driver ended the year second in the championship. However, the young American recently came out and detailed the paradox of his second placed finish.

Motorsport reporter Bob Pockrass shared a video of Herta on social media platform X where the Andretti driver answered questions about the upcoming IndyCar season. With the first race at St. Pete on the horizon, the 24-year-old reflected on the 2024 season and revealed what it would take to win the championship in the coming season.

The interviewer in the said video mentioned how Colton Herta had a good season in 2024 and that the Andretti driver would want to win the title in the 2025 season. He then questioned Herta about the dangers of making big changes for the 2025 season.

“It's all minor things that shouldn't have a hugely different result in the end, you know, so it's something that, that yes, we did our best season to date and we finished second, but it's also a bad thing because finishing second in any sport is one of the worst things ever because you're so close to winning it and you don't get there,” replied Colton Herta.

The 24-year-old finished the 2024 IndyCar season 31 points behind the champion Alex Palou. Both the Spaniard and the American were involved in a season-long fight for the title, but poor results for Herta in the closing stages of the season at Milwaukee possibly took away his chance to win the championship.

Colton Herta has also been linked to the Cadillac F1 project and rumors of the American joining the team for the 2026 season came along during the off-season.

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Mario Andretti hails Colton Herta as a “great candidate” for the Cadillac F1 seat

Cadillac's F1 project was approved by the Formula 1 management as the team prepares to join the grid for the 2026 season. Colton Herta, who was previously set to join Andretti's F1 program, which was rejected by F1, has now been linked to the Cadillac F1 project, who might want an American driver at the team.

Mario Andretti was appointed as the Director of the Cadillac F1 team, and the Former F1 and IndyCar champion hailed Herta. He said (via Motorsport):

“Looking back at the way Colton has trained from the very beginning of his young career — as you know, he started in Formula 3 and so on with the likes of Lando Norris, and he's done some F1 testing.”

“Zak Brown gave him a good test at Portimao in Portugal. You should see the report that we got from [team principal] Andrea Stella. And Andrea is an individual that says it like it is — so again, [Herta's] a great candidate. And all of this has to be proven, of course, but going in, he's a good bet, in my opinion.”

Colton Herta will need to finish fourth or higher in the 2025 IndyCar championship to get enough points for a super license. The American currently has 32 points and will need 40 for a super license.