Colton Herta has clarified his thoughts on potentially driving in Formula 1 in the future, saying that he would likely accept the offer if one was made.
The young IndyCar driver was at the forefront of conversations regarding a move to F1 last season on account of his current team owner Michael Andretti’s near purchase of the Alfa Romeo team.
Andretti stated that his intention, had the deal gone through, would have been to bring his star talent over to the international stage as one of the newly-purchased team’s two drivers.
Herta’s natural skills behind the wheel of an IndyCar – he holds the record for the youngest driver to win a race at the age of 18 years, 11 months, and tied for the most victories last season – led even more credibility to the planned swap.
When asked by MotorsportWeek.com at a preseason media session on Tuesday if he was disappointed that his F1 shot didn’t materialize last year, Herta quickly denied the idea.
“No. No. You know, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to do Formula 1. I want to do a lot of stuff in my career, but a lot of it also needs certain timing.
“Formula 1 is one of those things. If you’re 28, you’re not going to Formula 1, unfortunately. That’s just how it works. The time is right for me if I got the opportunity.
“I’d have to have a good think about it, but I most likely would do it because I want to run in Formula 1 at some point.
“I think people forget that I’m 21 years old and think that I can’t come back in five years and still run 15 years in IndyCar and be 40.”
There are seven current IndyCar drivers that are over 40 years old, but Herta is fully aware that he may only have one or two more years to take a shot in Formula 1 before he is considered too old to enter the series.
He reiterated that he would be more than happy to just stick with IndyCar for the time being, however, and would keep his ears open for other opportunities down the line if an option for F1 did not present itself in the near future.
“Yeah, I definitely want to give [F1] a crack if I get the opportunity,” Herta continued. “But definitely not disappointed at all in IndyCar. I like this series more than any series in the world, and I enjoy racing in it a lot.
“But, there’s just a lot of stuff that I’d like to try in my racing career outside of IndyCar, also.”
