Colton Herta's 2026 F2 team "decided" with Cadillac F1 in contract negotiations

Bryan Herta has confirmed that Cadillac F1 has finalized the F2 team, where his son Colton Herta will drive in 2026. The 25-year-old left IndyCar and Andretti Global after the 2025 season for a comprehensive and possibly his final shot at realizing his F1 dream.

In 2025, he was unable to reach the required 40 points for an FIA Super Licence. As a result, Cadillac F1 couldn't sign him as one of its full-time F1 drivers. However, in a bid to help him achieve his F1 dream, the American team signed him as a test driver for 2026. In addition to test driver duties, Herta will also compete in F2 next year as part of his learning of the circuits F1 races on and the Pirelli tires.

Colton Herta's dad, Bryan Herta, a former IndyCar star, recently appeared on the Racers Unchained podcast with Paul Tracy. When asked about his son's to-be F2 team, he confirmed that Cadillac F1 was negotiating a contract with a particular team on Colton's behalf, but didn't name the team.

"So obviously, Cadillac is going to, I am going to say, "place him" where they think he should be. I think they've identified the team, and they're working through contracts now to where he'll race in F2 next year. I think that's been decided," Bryan Herta said. [38:50 onwards]

Colton Herta is IndyCar's youngest race winner, having won his first race in the series for Harding Steinbrenner Racing in 2019, aged 18 years, 11 months, and 25 days. He joined Andretti Autosport (now Andretti Global) in 2020 and got two partial shots at his F1 dream since joining the team.

The first chance was when former team owner Michael Andretti had nearly acquired Sauber in 2021, before the deal fell through, "48 hours" before the signing. The second chance could've come in 2023, with Herta possibly replacing Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls) in 2023, had the FIA accepted Red Bull's ask for a Super Licence points exemption in mid-2022.

Colton Herta's dad claims Cadillac F1 won't judge him based on F2 performance

Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss with Team Principal Graeme Lowdon at the F1 Italian Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Bryan Herta also shared that Cadillac F1 won't evaluate his son, Colton Herta, based on his performance in F2. The former IndyCar driver highlighted that the F2 program would only be to give his son a taste of the Pirelli tires and F1 circuits.

The real evaluation would be based on Herta's performance in Cadillac F1's testing program and his lap times in the Free Practice sessions across 2026. On the aforementioned podcast, Bryan Herta said:

"He'll be evaluated by the Cadillac F1 team based on how he does in the testing programs, based on how he does in FP1s, and their simulator, how he integrates with the team - that's what they're going to base it on. F2 is a chance to gain more experience to learn tracks, to work with the Pirelli tires, and just drive as much as he possibly can next year."

Colton Herta has 34 points of the required 40 for an FIA Super Licence. To be eligible for an F1 seat in 2027, he will need to amass six more points in 2026, which could simply be gained by participating in six practice sessions. However, he might not need to do that. Simply finishing eighth or higher in the 2026 F2 standings could seal the deal.