Andretti-Cadillac boss reveals chaotic "choreography" behind Colton Herta's F1 move

Colton Herta's name popped up as a Cadillac F1 seat candidate as soon as the FIA and Formula One Management approved the team's entry. However, the American was only announced as a test driver, rather than a full timer, as the rumors claimed earlier this year. Andretti Global and Cadillac F1 Boss Dan Towriss recently came out and detailed how many things had to fall into place for Herta's F1 move.

Chronologically, looking at how the recent announcements were made by the TWG Motorsports, which included the Cadillac F1 and Andretti Global announcements, first, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were confirmed as the full-time Cadillac drivers.

As the IndyCar season ended on August 31, 2025, Will Power became a free agent as he didn't sign an extension with Team Penske, and that announcement was made on September 2. The very next day, Andretti Global revealed that Colton Herta won't be racing in IndyCar in 2026 and has joined Cadillac F1 as a test driver.

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Just hours after Herta's F1 move, Andretti Global came out and announced Will Power as the American’s replacement. TWG Motorsports CEO Dan Towriss came out explaining how all these events had to fall into place and revealed the “choreography” behind Colton Herta's Cadillac move. He said,

“If you work backward and maybe just think about it from our perspective for a minute, we had to select and announce our Formula 1 drivers. And I think most would imagine that needed to come first. Colton's got big shoes to fill in IndyCar. Will Power came on – that really can't happen until the end of the season – and those two things have to happen simultaneously.”

Towriss explained how Colton Herta's move and Will Power's announcement had to take place simultaneously, and before the F2 season ended, as the American will be racing in F2, and wanted to be in talks with the teams before the driver market went haywire.

“We can't just have the open seat. And then we needed to get all that done before the F2 season goes too crazy and there's not a seat available for him. So there was definitely a whole choreography of this that wasn't easy to pull off from that standpoint, when you think of all the pieces that had to fall into place just to have the opportunity for this to be possible,” added Towriss

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Colton Herta on the Cadillac F1 opportunity being his ‘last shot at his dream’

Colton Herta was reportedly under consideration to make a move to AlphaTauri in 2023, but the move fell into pieces as the IndyCar driver didn't have enough superlicence points. As Cadillac F1’s entry was approved, and it fell under the TWG Motorsports umbrella, it was a no-brainer move for Herta to sign, even though it was as a test driver. Detailing how it's his last chance at making the F1 dream a reality, he said,

“It’s a risk, and it’s a dream of mine, so I thought, this is my last shot at it. I want to do it, I want to take that chance. For me, it’s really just about fighting for my dream.” (via Motorsport)

Colton Herta would need to finish P8 or higher in the F2 championship in 2026 to get enough points for a superlicence.