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Colton Herta will start 13th in the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course after failing to advance past the first round of qualifying on Friday. The Andretti Global driver later took to Instagram and shared his thoughts on the qualifying effort and what he plans to do in the race on Saturday.
Herta was the seventh fastest driver in the first group in Round 1 of qualifying with a lap time of 1:10.2231 seconds and a top speed of 125.036 mph, which was not enough to move into Round 2. Despite the early exit, Herta showed confidence in the car’s pace and looked ahead to the race.
"Car feels really good, we just didn’t put it all together today. We’ll be ready for a fight tomorrow!" Colton Herta captioned his post on Instagram.
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It was a tough session for Andretti Global as none of their three drivers made it past the first round. The team now faces a challenge to move forward in Saturday’s 85-lap race, which is set to begin at 4:30 pm ET.
At the front, Alex Palou continued his strong form by taking pole position with a dominant lap of 1:09.3417 seconds and a top speed of 126.625 mph. He was more than four-tenths of a second faster than anyone else in the field.
Graham Rahal will start second, giving Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing a strong result. His teammates, Louis Foster and Devlin DeFrancesco, also performed well, qualifying third and fifth, respectively. Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske slotted into fourth and completed the top 5.
Colton Herta is still a top priority for Cadillac's F1 entry in 2026
Colton Herta remains a top choice for Cadillac's Formula 1 debut in 2026, according to racing legend Mario Andretti. The American driver is high on the list as General Motors-backed Cadillac prepares to enter the sport. Andretti, who serves as an advisor to the project, said the team is finalizing its driver lineup and could make an announcement in the coming months.
Herta was previously linked to a move to Formula 1 in 2024, but couldn’t make the switch due to not having enough FIA super license points. Despite that setback, Andretti says Herta is still a strong candidate and praised his early career and recent progress.
"Looking back at the way Colton has trained from the very beginning of his young career, as you know, he started in Formula 3 and so on with the likes of Lando Norris, and he's done some F1 testing," Mario Andretti said via Motorsport Week.
"Zak Brown gave him a good test at Portimao in Portugal. You should see the report that we got from (team principal) Andrea Stella. And Andrea is an individual that says it like it is. So again, (Herta is) a great candidate. And all of this has to be proven, of course, but going in, he's a good bet, in my opinion."
Herta had his best IndyCar season in 2024, finishing second in the standings. He won two races, including his first on an oval.
So far in 2025, Colton Herta is eighth in the championship with 99 points. He is 97 points behind the leader, Alex Palou.
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