No one needed the official Formula 1 approval of Cadillac F1 to join the series grid in 2026 to start speculating on who will drive for the organization.
One of those names in the discussion has been INDYCAR driver Colton Herta. He drives for Andretti Global, whose parent company TWG Global also owns the Formula 1 team that originally started as an Andretti effort.
Herta has reiterated over the first couple of months of 2025 that, even if Towriss wanted him in the F1 seat, he would have to think about the decision.
The 24-year-old Herta says he enjoys his INDYCAR team, the team he has driven for since 2020.
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“It’s not an easy decision to just be like all right, see you guys forever,” Herta said on Feb. 28 prior to the season opener in St. Petersburg. “I’d be giving up an opportunity to maybe never work with these people again.”
It’s easy to be skeptical of Herta’s comments. Who wouldn’t give up a seat for Formula 1 if it were offered?
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“He’s very focused on this year, as he should be,” Towriss said when asked by FOX Sports whether it really is a no-brainer of a decision for Herta if Towriss wants Herta in his F1 car. “And I think he’s smart to not let Formula 1 become a distraction.
“I think that would be a huge mistake for him, for us as a team, to do that. Does he have the talent drive there? Yes.”
Herta still needs to finish at least fourth in the INDYCAR championship standings to earn an F1 super license. He was second in the standings last year, the first time he finished among the top four.
“I’m happy for Colton to race where he wants to race — if it’s to the place where that [F1] option is on the table from that standpoint,” Towriss said. “His talent is tremendous. He’s a generational talent, and we just want to showcase it.
“He still hasn’t had the breakout year that I think he’s capable of. And so that’s what I want for this year. When that happens, there’s a lot to talk about then [about the future].”
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The questions will dog Herta throughout this year. And while he’ll admit it’s not his favorite question, he knows that they will come.
And so, as Towriss noted, he’s not racing this year, thinking he has one foot out the door. Actually, he indicated that no decision is “automatic” and that he would have to consider what the opportunity would mean for years down the road.
“If I have [an F1 offer], I’d have to really have a serious thought,” Herta said.
How can it not be a distraction?
“I’ve had that carrot dangling in front of me for the past half-decade,” Herta told FOX Sports in January. “So it’s been a long time of it not happening. It’s just kind of a numb thing now. I don’t even think about it.”
But with the formal F1 approval issued to the Cadillac team last week and the F1 season beginning this weekend, the chatter will be constant.
“Basically, my goal is to win the championship and win the Indy 500,” Herta said. “Everything else should follow in suit if I decide to go that route [to F1].”
Coming off his best season in INDYCAR, Herta said with some minor changes, he should challenge for the title. The 2025 season didn’t start off great, as a slow pit stop relegated him to 16th at St. Pete in a race where he started second.
“We did have our best season to date, and we finished second [last year],” Herta said. “But it’s also a bad thing because finishing second in any sport is one of the worst things ever because you’re so close to winning it and you don’t get there.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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