Andretti boss confirms Colton Herta's F2 plans alongside Cadillac F1 role

TWG Motorsports' CEO, Dan Towriss, has confirmed Colton Herta's 2026 FIA F2 plans amid his announcement as a Cadillac test driver for the 2026 season. While this move was anticipated, the initial press release by the teams did not conclude that the 25-year-old would move to F1's feeder series to prepare for the possible challenge in the following years.

Cadillac signed Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez for its debut F1 season. This ended the speculation about Herta's move to the newly formed team in Europe, as he also didn't have enough superlicense points to race in the series.

While doubts about his F1 dream lurked over the past few weekends, reports suggested that the Santa Clarita-born driver might head his way out of Andretti to join Cadillac as a test driver in 2026. Moreover, he was slated to head to F2 for the following season to earn experience and the points required for his superlicense.

However, the announcement concerning Herta's move away from Andretti did not specify that he would move to F2 in the following year. This led to doubts over his F1 path, but Towriss soon quashed those concerns, as he said in the Off Track with Hinch and Rossi podcast:

"He's going to pursue that dream in F1. So to do that, he's going to take a pretty big risk; he's leaving IndyCar, he's not going directly to F1. This is a test and development driver role, and so he's going to be going into F2. He's going to learn tracks, he's going to learn tires; tires are a big part of that, very different from IndyCar from that standpoint." (7:54 onwards)

Colton Herta ended his 2025 season winless, but finished runner-up in the IndyCar championship last year.

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Colton Herta admits he couldn't let a possible F1 chance slip by

Colton Herta won the NTT P1 award at the qualifying for the 2025 NTT INDYCAR Series Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto - Source: Getty

With Cadillac joining the F1 grid in 2026 and Andretti seemingly having backdoor access to the squad, Colton Herta's name was in consideration for the squad. Though the team opted for experience in its first lineup, the opportunity of soon getting into F1 through a different path remained.

So, when the chatter about moving to the F1 realm as a test driver came about, Herta left IndyCar behind to try and fulfill his dream of racing in F1. He said in the press release shared by Andretti:

"This is a dream opportunity, and one I’ve been working towards for a long time. To be part of Cadillac F1’s entry at such a pivotal time is something I couldn’t pass up.

“My dream has always been to race in Formula 1, and I see this move as a huge step towards that goal. For now, my focus is on giving everything I can to Cadillac F1, helping build a competitive team."

Herta scored nine wins, 19 podiums and 16 poles in his 112-race run in the premier open-wheel racing scene in the United States.