Hinchcliffe: Colton Herta has been given one final chance

      Everyone who follows events in the world of Formula 1, of course, knows that American Colton Herta has become Cadillac’s reserve driver and will gain experience in F2 next year. But why the organizers of the new team chose this 25-year-old Californian is not known to many, and James Hinchcliffe, a former IndyCar driver who now works with the championship’s official website, set out to fill that gap.

      Colton has a genuine “racing pedigree,” since his father, Bryan Herta, raced in the CART/IRL series for more than ten years, taking four wins in that time. He then became a team owner, running the team he founded himself, and it won the Indy 500 twice: Dan Wheldon won the race in 2011, Alexander Rossi in 2016. It goes without saying that Colton grew up in a racing atmosphere.

      In his youth Herta Jr. was successful in karting, after which, at just 13, he moved into open-wheel racing and immediately showed that he had natural talent. After racing in the US he moved to Europe, where in 2015 he competed in the MSA Formula series and finished the season third. Incidentally, the champion that year was Lando Norris…

      Colton’s successes allowed him to move toward British F3, but he was still too young for that series, so he raced in the Euroformula Open championship, where he took four victories and also finished third. But it was unclear how to map out his further career in Europe, so Herta returned to the US and debuted in the junior Indy Lights series, which feeds drivers into IndyCar.

      In his first season he took two wins and finished third in the championship, and in 2018 he was one of the title contenders, but lost out to his teammate Pato O’Ward, now an IndyCar runner-up, at the end of the season.

      That result was enough to step up to IndyCar in 2019, and Colton began racing for Steinbrenner Racing, which had a close partnership with Andretti Autosport. He surprised everyone by winning his first race almost immediately—on only his second attempt—becoming the youngest winner in the series’ history. That same year he also took his first pole.

      Since then he has finished the championship in the top five three times, with nine wins and 16 poles to his name. He has also shown an ability to adapt to very different machinery, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona twice, first in the GT category and later behind the wheel of a sports prototype.

      It’s worth adding that he has some exposure to Formula 1: he worked on simulators for teams such as Sauber and Red Bull, and also drove a McLaren in tests of previous years’ machinery, leaving a very strong impression on Andrea Stella…

      Off the racetrack Colton is a calm, laid-back guy, and he isn’t interested in media noise. He used to play drums in his free time with old friends in the band The Zibs, but now he has devoted himself entirely to motorsport.

      He also likes to play golf when he can, and because of his character and charm he is loved by IndyCar fans. Given his convincing track record and his existing collaboration with TWG Motorsports, it’s easy to see why Cadillac ties its future to him. But many wonder why Herta decided to leave IndyCar, where he is considered one of the best drivers, since there are no guarantees he will receive a full contract after 2026.

      Although Colton is the son of an IndyCar-winning driver and grew up in America, Formula 1 has always been his main dream. And though he achieved fame in IndyCar and began winning races, deep down he always aspired to get into the world championship. When Dan Tauriss, head of TWG Motorsports, told him about the opportunity, Herta realized it was his last chance to pursue his long-held dream.

      Time will tell whether he can prove himself in this new environment and whether he will become the next American driver to achieve fame in Formula 1.