"They lit the fire underneath me" - Colton Herta credits Andretti Global after brilliant St. Pete qualifying turnaround

Colton Herta was super appreciative of his No. 26 Andretti Global team after IndyCar's first qualifying session of 2025 at St. Petersburg on Saturday. The 24-year-old qualified second on the grid, just under two-tenths behind pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin.

Herta's pace was surprising, considering how he finished P20 in practice session 2 on Saturday morning. That P20 put him in Group 2 for the first round of qualifying, where he emerged second-quickest to McLaughlin to advance to Round 2. The 24-year-old then went on to ace Round 2, becoming the fastest driver on track, 9-hundredths ahead of Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard.

However, when it came to the final shootout, the Firestone Fast 6, Scott McLaughlin, who announced a contract renewal with Team Penske on Friday, got every ounce out of the car, forcing Herta to settle for P2.

Nonetheless, it was a sublime turnaround for IndyCar's youngest race winner compared to his practice outing on the streets of St. Petersburg. After the qualifying session, he gave full credit of his performance to his Andretti Global team.

"We had a solid car. I'm really happy with how this Gainbridge Honda is performing, how we turned it around from yesterday. Pretty poor practice yesterday and again this morning, but this one's really all up to the guys. I think I wasn't driving great. They lit the fire underneath me and got this all turned around, and here we are," he told FOX reporter Jamie Little.

In 2024, Colton Herta had taken P4 in qualifying and finished P3 on the podium (after two Team Penske drivers were disqualified).

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Colton Herta shines a light on the 'guessing' game that ensued at the St. Petersburg GP qualifying

INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Day 2 - Source: Getty

Qualifying at St. Petersburg had an added element that IndyCar drivers hadn't encountered before - the alternate green tires. The new tires had considerably more grip than the primary tires and were best suited for qualifying.

Speaking about his qualifying laps, Colton Herta explained how uncertain some moments were, and he constantly had to "guess-timate" the car's limits.

"I think it's exciting. We can't wait to see what the race is gonna be. But for these green tires, it's exciting for qualifying," he said on the IndyCar live broadcast. "That one lap tire, really hang it out there, it's a hard thing to do. It's a hard to thing to get every corner right for one lap. And inside the cockpit, it's just like a guess-timate - 'Oh I think I can brake here', and then, 'I think I can hold this much speed'."

The Andretti Global star also spoke about how all drivers were pushing the limit in each qualifying lap and often found themselves making contact with the wall.

"It's (brushing the wall) part of it. We try not to in practice, but in qualifying, if you gotta get the job done... and it helps you."

Colton Herta's teammates Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood will start P7 and P9 on the grid for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday.