F1's "anti-American" stance on Colton Herta exposed as Conor Daly addresses Arvid Lindblad exemption

F1's rejection of a special exemption for Colton Herta from 2022 has taken the spotlight yet again after the series recently granted 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad an exemption for a Red Bull drive. Herta's fellow IndyCar driver Conor Daly has highlighted F1's "anti-American" approach using this example.

In 2022, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko wanted to sign Herta on the junior team, AlphaTauri (now VCARB). The IndyCar driver would've replaced Alpine-bound Pierre Gasly. However, he wasn't eligible for an F1 seat then, possessing 32 of the required 40 points for an FIA super license.

Consequently, the FIA rejected Red Bull's request for a special exemption, citing the super license ineligibility as the concern. However, the FIA recently approved an exemption for Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad. Though the F2 driver has more than the 40 points required for a super license, he hasn't turned 18 yet, making him ineligible.

IndyCar driver Conor Daly was baffled by this decision and voiced his strong stance on his Speed Street podcast on YouTube. Speaking about Lindblad's exemption, he said [19:57 onwards]:

"I am like, 'Goodness, gracious.' Colton Herta wasn't granted a super license because there was a lot of people looking for Colton Herta to get granted a super license... Such an anti-American, it's the most anti-American thing that's literally so obvious. It's because I've grown up in this world and I know it very well. Maybe the public can't see it as much, but it's literally like a 'Nah, not this guy (Herta). But if he races over here with us (Lindblad), doesn't matter!'"

Conor's father, Derek Daly, is a former F1 driver, and as a result, the former has seen that world up close.

"This driver may be good," the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver continued. "I actually don't know this driver in F2, F3. (He's) probably completely qualified, I don't know that. But I can promise you Colton would've been qualified with far more years of experience and far more competitive races under his belt."

When F1 had rejected Colton Herta, he already had seven race wins in IndyCar and remains the youngest race winner in series history. However, because the FIA doesn't govern IndyCar, it gives fewer points to the series' drivers in pursuit of a super license, despite them being in F1-like machinery. Surprisingly, F2 drivers get more, as evident in Arvid Lindblad's example, who already has over 40 points.

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Colton Herta drops down in Cadillac's driver prospect list: Is the super license requirement to blame?

Colton Herta driving his No. 26 Andretti Global Honda at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Just after the FIA provisionally approved a 2026 F1 entry for Cadillac in November 2024, team director Mario Andretti announced Colton Herta as its top driver prospect. The 24-year-old drives for Andretti Global, the team that Mario's son, Michael Andretti, owned until September last year.

Moreover, Herta recorded a career-best IndyCar season in 2024, finishing runner-up to Alex Palou in the championship. That gave him 30 points towards warranting a super license. The FIA either considers points accumulated in the three years before applying for a super license, or the points accumulated in the two years before application and the year of application.

Cadillac will enter F1 in 2026, which means Colton Herta will have had to accumulate 40 points in the span from 2023 to 2025. For his P10 finish in 2023, he earned one point and 30 points for finishing in P2 last year. The Andretti Global driver needs to earn nine points this year, requiring him to finish fourth (which will earn him 10 points or higher in the 2025 IndyCar standings).

Alternatively, he could finish in fifth place, earn eight points and earn an additional point by running 100 kilometers in an F1 practice session for any team this year. However, in May, it was reported that Cadillac's interest in signing Herta had lessened.

That could've been so because it didn't want to wait until the IndyCar season ends on August 31 to get a clear picture of its driver line-up. Cadillac has already signed its first official sponsor, Tommy Hilfiger, and is reportedly in negotiations with Sergio Perez as its lead driver.