Alex Palou 'hates' FIA's "unfair" points system that forced Colton Herta to take drastic F2 step

IndyCar champion Alex Palou recently came out and reflected on Colton Herta's decision to leave the IndyCar grid and make a move to Cadillac for the F1 test role, as well as the decision to race in F2 next year. The four-time IndyCar champion raised fingers at FIA’s unfair superlicence points system, which pushed Herta to take the F2 step.

As Cadillac's entry was confirmed by the FIA and Formula One Management, Colton Herta's name popped up as a strong contender for the seat. However, the American failed to get enough points in 2025 for a superlicence, as Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were confirmed as Cadillac's 2026 lineup.

Colton Herta was announced as Cadillac's test driver for the 2025 IndyCar season, and Dan Towriss confirmed that Herta will race in F2. The F2 role is designed so that the former Andretti Global driver can accumulate enough points for a super licence.

Herta currently has 35 superlicence points, but will lose one point from the 2023 year at the end of next year, as the FIA considers the results in the three previous years. There is a huge discrepancy in the superlicence points awarded in F2 and IndyCar.

IndyCar star Alex Palou featured on the Speed Street podcast and detailed the same, as he reflected on Colton Herta's move.

“I think it's a great story. It's a great story that what he's trying to achieve, how hard we all know that it is. And that's why we push for it. And especially knowing that it's a little bit unfair that he could get a chance if we had more points in our system. Yes. And that's what it makes us be even more like… I hate that” said Alex Palou (1:14:20 onwards)

The top three places in F2 get 40 superlicence points, whereas in IndyCar, only the championship winner gets 40 points. Herta would need to finish P8 or higher in the F2 championship to get enough points for the superlicence.

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Alex Palou, in support of Colton Herta amid the F2 move, wants the Cadillac F1 test driver to “smoke everybody”

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri recently suggested that it won't be easy for Colton Herta to make the transition from IndyCar to F2. Alex Palou suggested the same on the Speed Street podcast, detailing how Herta would have to get used to the Pirelli tires, as well as limited stop strategies. However, Palou is in support of Herta's move and wants him to smoke the F2 grid.

“We respect 100 percent. Yeah, but it's our boy. It's our brother. It's our boy. So we want our boy to go there to Europe and smoke everybody. But that doesn't mean we don't respect the series. I fully respect F2. It's so tough. I've been part of it and I got smoked. It's not that I'm saying, oh, it's a shitty series. No, it's a tough series. But our boy needs to do very well. And we're going to be cheering for him,” said Alex Palou

Colton Herta was linked to the AlphaTauri seat in 2023 but couldn't make the move as he didn't have enough superlicense points.