“It’s a super big risk”: Colton Herta reveals the true cost of his F1 dream with one ‘last shot’ after shock IndyCar exit

Colton Herta was announced as Cadillac F1's test driver for the 2026 season as the American team will be making its debut in the pinnacle of motorsports. As Cadillac confirmed Herta’s F1 role and F2 participation, the American came out and revealed the cost of getting a step closer to his F1 dream.

Colton Herta's former IndyCar team, Andretti Global, confirmed that the American won't be racing in IndyCar next year, followed by Cadillac's confirmation that the 25-year-old will race in F2 alongside the test driver role. The former Andretti Global driver solidified himself as a top driver and championship contender during the 2024 season, where he finished as the runner-up to Alex Palou.

However, Colton Herta has always dreamed of racing in F1, and was even linked to making a move to AlphaTauri in 2023, before his super licence points situation prevented him from making a move. As Cadillac F1's entry was confirmed earlier this year, Herta's name popped up as a possible contender for the full-time seat.

While Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were confirmed as the full-time drivers a few days ago, Colton Herta was signed as a test driver. Given that the 25-year-old raced under the umbrella of TWG Motorsports (a division of TWG Global that owns both Cadillac and Andretti Global), it was a no-brainer move for the American driver and team.

Dan Towriss came out soon after the Herta-Cadillac move was announced and confirmed that the former IndyCar driver will be racing in F2 to accumulate enough superlicence points to race in F1 in the future.

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Speaking about how the move from IndyCar to F1 comes with a lot of risk, Colton Herta 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 was then asked whether the uncertainty around the full-time F1 drive in the future made the move a scary one, to which he replied,

“No, not for me. As a racing driver, you constantly are betting on yourself. For me, this is just one of those things where I’m betting on myself. I believe in myself, I believe that I’m fast enough to do it. That’s not saying it’s going to be easy – it’s going to be a lot of work to understand the differences from grand prix racing to IndyCar racing, but it’s something I’m going to work for, 100% diving into it.”

“If I didn’t think that I can do it – like I said, it’s a super big risk – I would stay in IndyCar. But I believe in myself, and I believe I’m fast enough,” he added

While the move from the American open-wheel racing series to the European open-wheel racing scene might seem to be plug-and-play, there is a lot more to it.

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Christian Lundgaard details the difference in F2 and IndyCar racing as he expects Colton Herta to face challenges following the move

There are a lot of similarities between IndyCar and F2, like the fact that both series are open-wheel spec series where the driver makes a bigger difference than the car, unlike F1, which is an open series. However, Colton Herta's former IndyCar rival, Christian Lundgaard, expects the American to have a tough time in F2, as he detailed the different styles of racing in IndyCar and F2. He said,

“I think he will be facing a tough challenge overall. I think IndyCar is a very raw, tough racing series. And I think Formula 2 is a little more, how would you say, a little more kind of set, but also calm racing in a sense,” (via Motorsport)

“I think he’s going to have a tough time figuring that out at first. He’s likely going in with the same mentality he’s had in IndyCar, and I think it’s safe to say that isn’t necessarily the right approach. But again, it might work for him. Time will tell.”

Colton Herta would need to finish 8th or higher in the F2 championship to earn enough points for a super licence.