Colton Herta has decided to wave goodbye to IndyCar, moving to Formula 2 in his last chance effort to achieve his dream of reaching Formula 1.
Herta signed on to become Cadillac’s reserve driver for their F1 project in 2026, after spending months denying any urge to go back to Europe and hunt for an F1 seat.
For 2026, Herta will swap his IndyCar seat for a place in F2, trading fighting at the front of the field for a place back on the feeder series ladder.
But while IndyCar may offer nail-biting racing and a professional role, one thing it does not offer is enough FIA Superlicense points to be eligible to move into F1.
It’s something Herta spoke on in the Off Track with Hinch and Rossi podcast, referring to the chance he missed out on with Red Bull’s satellite squad in 2023.
“Everyone’s seen how close I’ve come before. I think this is my best shot at getting to Formula 1,” he addressed.
A brave gamble
For Herta, the difference between making his dream or wasting a potential championship run in IndyCar will come down to a single season.
The American has carved a name for himself in the States, becoming a race winner at 18 and finishing second in the championship last year.
Moving to F2 could easily make or break Herta’s career, but he recognised the necessary boldness he had to take to chase his final shot at F1.
“It goes without saying, the risk factor. For me, it was an incredibly tough decision to make, because I know what I’m leaving behind,” he conceded.
“I’m leaving behind a great group of guys, an incredibly competitive championship where if it’s your day, you can win, and we’ve seen that’s not always the case in Formula 1 – you need the car to compete.
He followed up his decision by admitting that he felt as though remaining in IndyCar would be the “easy thing”.
“The easy thing would be to stay in IndyCar. That would be simple for me. I’d live a very similar life.
“It’s a risk, and it’s a dream of mine, so I thought, this is my last shot at it. I want to do it, I want to take that chance. For me, it’s really just about fighting for my dream.”
Herta remains confident about a 2027 F1 seat
And although proving himself to be a better option than Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas will be challenging, he remained confident about his chances.
“As a racing driver, you constantly are betting on yourself. For me, this is just one of those things where I’m betting on myself. I believe in myself, I believe that I’m fast enough to do it.
“If I didn’t think that I can do it – like I said, it’s a super big risk – I would stay in IndyCar. But I believe in myself, and I believe I’m fast enough.
“That’s not saying it’s going to be easy – it’s going to be a lot of work to understand the differences from grand prix racing to IndyCar racing, but it’s something I’m going to work for, 100 per cent diving into it.”
Herta acknowledged that this isn’t a goodbye from IndyCar, but to truly give it his all, being in the F2 paddock is necessary, allowing him to run on F1 race weekends and take part in FP1 and testing sessions.
“This isn’t a forever goodbye to IndyCar by any means,” Herta concluded. “I see myself coming back to IndyCar at some stage in my career, just because I love it.”
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