Colton Herta, born 30 March 2000, is an American open-wheel racing driver competing in the NTT IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport. He is the son of IndyCar and Champ Car race winner Bryan Herta, and he became the youngest (at 19) racing driver to win an IndyCar race, when he won in Austin (Texas) in 2019. Colton Herta is definitely one of the brightest prospects in American motor racing.
In March 2022, Herta was signed by McLaren as a Formula 1 development driver. He impressed in his first test drive around the Portimão circuit, aboard a 2021 McLaren MCL35. Recently, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko stated he was interested in signing the American to Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, for the 2023.
Now that the Formula 1 has gained tremendous popularity in North America, thanks to Netflix’ Drive to Survive, the dynamic management of Liberty Media and the organisation of three Grand Prix in the US, it would be a really smart move, commercially and mediatically, for the Austrian energy drink, to hire this fast and charismatic American.
The FIA is now investigating whether it could grant an F1 superlicence to AlphaTauri target Colton Herta, despite the IndyCar driver falling short of the required amount of points. This should logically be a formality: Colton has impressive statistics in his favour with already 7 wins, 11 podiums and 9 poles in only 62 races.
Former Formula 1 driver and 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi tweeted: “This should be the easiest and fastest investigation the FIA has ever to do. It’s time for an American (to join the F1)”. We, at the Human Side of Racing, think it’s a no-brainer for all parties involved. Time for a quick and spectacular American in Formula 1.
