“They want US companies money”- IndyCar driver labels F1 as an ‘elitist sport’ after Colton Herta’s superlicense rejection

IndyCar driver Graham Rahal recently presented his views on Colton Herta's F1 seat rejection. The driver has openly questioned the sport's approach to providing the drivers' superlicense. Notably, Herta's license refusal has been a big topic of contention for a while now.

The IndyCar sensation was being associated with Red Bull for the longest time. Especially after news of Pierre Gasly making a move to Alpine broke, Herta was expected to be a potential replacement for him (at AlphaTauri). Red Bull's interest was also immediately confirmed when both Helmut Marko and Christian Horner criticized the FIA's points relegation system to provide the superlicenses.

Herta, who had 32 out of the required 40 points, was ultimately denied the shift to F1, much to Red Bull's dismay. While the team could've tried covering up the 8 points through other competitions, they abandoned the effort. Strikingly, the IndyCar driver's deal with the team would've surely been beneficial to attract US audiences to the sport.

Now, Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has voiced his opinions over the FIA's decision-making. In a Twitter post he wrote:

"Damn right. F1 is an elitist sport. They don’t want us. Remember that. They want US companies money, they want wealthy US individuals money. But they don’t care about the rest. Always has been that way, always will be."

The driver further dismissed opinions that claimed that Herta was not deserving of an F1 seat:

"And for those who want to say that Colton Herta didn’t “earn” the right. You’re off base. He’s as talented if not more than the rest. He’s a proven winner. He came to the top, and has done exceptionally well. F1 has had ride buyers for years who don’t hold a candle to CH. FACTS!"

Undoubtedly, there have been some mixed opinions in the paddock about Herta's shift to the sport. However, there's no doubt that the youngster is a genuine talent. Notably, he is the youngest ever IndyCar race winner and has taken seven wins since 2019.

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FIA attracts criticism post a 24-race F1 calendar announcement for 2023

Following criticism directed at their 2023 calendar, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali recently denied allegations that claimed increasing the calendar length was a money-minded decision.

He said that the 24-race calendar was "normal," indicating that it almost seemed like an inevitability as motorsport keeps growing rapidly across the globe.

Domenicali and FIA have already picked up some negative attention after trying to filter out some old school tracks. Even the extended race calendar was not the most approved decision and saw some resistance from the beginning. However, Domenicali explained his side of the story and claimed:

"Money is important everywhere, for us too. But we don’t just look at that, the whole package has to be right. If we only looked at the bank account, the racing calendar would definitely look different. I’m not selling the soul of Formula 1. This is the normal change. We are opening up to the whole world.”

F1 would have in fact been a 23-race calendar even this year if not for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Further, with the introduction of tracks like Kyalami and many more, the FIA looks set to expand the sport to newer/ older countries. Only time will tell as to what the consequences of these new additions will be.