McLaren F1 signs US driver Herta for test program
American racer Colton Herta was announced on Saturday as a test driver for Formula 1 team McLaren as part of its 2022 programme.
Herta, who turns 22 at the end of the month, is currently competing in IndyCar for Andretti Autosport. Both Michael and Mario Andretti believe the second-generation racer is F1 hardware and would like to move him to the series if Michael Andretti lands an F1 team.
In the meantime, McLaren will use it under new F1 regulations which allow teams to test year-old cars under the ‘Testing Previous Cars’ provision. The McLaren TPC program gives the team the opportunity to test potential drivers and assess young talent for the future.
“Colton is a proven talent in IndyCar and we will be interested to see how he adapts to a Formula 1 car,” said McLaren boss Andreas Seidl. car trials to showcase promising drivers for the future.
Herta does not have the necessary points to obtain the required FIA license to compete in F1. He became the youngest winner in IndyCar history in 2019 when he won at Circuit of the Americas days before his 19th birthday.
“We are delighted to see this opportunity present itself to Colton and we can’t wait to see him take his first laps in an F1 car,” said Michael Andretti. “The training time with McLaren F1 will help provide Colton with valuable FIA Super License points, which is one of our goals as we continue our efforts to bring the Andretti brand back to the Formula 1 World Championship. “
The Californian is the son of former racer Bryan Herta, who is his IndyCar strategist. He has won six IndyCar races and seven poles and is considered an IndyCar title contender.
Herta wants to race in F1 one day soon so he still has a long enough track to return to IndyCar to finish his career. He drove the last stint in January for class victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, then teamed up with Jimmie Johnson to complete a stunning second for the United States in the Race of Champions.
“I want to thank McLaren for the opportunity to do my first laps in a Formula 1 car, which has always been on my racing to-do list,” said Herta. “It will be a great opportunity for me to gain valuable experience in a new form of motorsport and learn from such an established team as McLaren F1.
Herta’s signing puts a damper on current McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward’s hopes of moving to F1. O’Ward and Herta are former teammates – and were teammates in January on their winning Rolex car – and O’Ward is also trying to get his F1 licence.
McLaren boss Zak Brown said last month he had no free seats in F1, with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo signing long-term contracts. Ricciardo is believed to be signed until 2023; Norris signed a January extension until 2025.
“We want to have a testing program for young drivers like we had in the past. Pato in the family is natural,” Brown said. “At the moment we don’t have a seat available. Lando is on a very long-term contract. Daniel, we have a few more years left with him, so there’s no seat available imminent.
“To give Pato seat time because you never know if a driver gets hurt or gets COVID, weird things have happened. But what we won’t do at all is compromise the IndyCar team. So I would never take Pato out of IndyCar to F1 without having a great solution because IndyCar is as important as Extreme as Formula 1 to be competitive. So it’s not a training ground for Formula 1.”
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