‘FIA didn’t allow Herta junior drive to acquire F1 Super Licence’

The FIA didn’t give Colton Herta permission to race in junior categories in the United States to acquire a Formula 1 Super Licence.

That’s the claim of Scott Goodyear, the Racing Director of US F3 and F4 competition.

Herta was heavily linked with a 2023 AlphaTauri drive, with Red Bull making contact with the IndyCar star over a seat.

The 22-year-old, who races for Andretti Autosport, had 32 of the required 40 Super Licence points to race in F1.

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Red Bull sought an exception from the FIA but the governing body did not grant Herta the licence to compete full-time on the F1 grid.

Herta’s father Bryan says that he approached the Formula Regional category in the US, which offers 18 Super Licence points for winning the championship.

However, the FIA wouldn’t allow it.

“We offer super licence points to the drivers competing in our series and, if you win the F3/F4/Formula Regional in this country, you’re awarded more points than you are if you win the Indy Lights championship,” Goodyear said on the Racer to Racer podcast. 

“It’s interesting because Bryan Herta called me in July. He wanted to see if we could get Colton to run in our F3 series because he needed to gain more super licence points.

“We were approving it, but he couldn’t get clearance from the FIA to be able to run that and [for him to] be given an opportunity to collect some points.

“It was difficult. The teams and the drivers in F3 were ecstatic, because they thought somebody of Colton’s calibre was going to come to run in the F3 and [they could] get a real chance to see how their abilities matched up to somebody that’s one of the best drivers.”

Herta is still being heavily linked to a drive in F1, with Andretti Global looking to join the grid in the coming years.

AlphaTauri signed Nyck de Vries to its vacant seat for the upcoming season, as Pierre Gasly departed to join Alpine alongside compatriot Esteban Ocon.