Colton Herta reveals Cadillac F1 leadership’s influence behind his risky leap from IndyCar to F2

Former Andretti Global star Colton Herta made the move from IndyCar to F2 for the upcoming racing season and will also be fulfilling the role of reserve driver for Cadillac's F1 team. The American recently came out and revealed the Cadillac F1 leadership’s influence ,which convinced him to make the risky move.

Colton Herta was a well-established driver in IndyCar as he challenged Alex Palou for the title during the 2024 season, and finished as the runner-up. The American was also arguably the lead driver for Andretti Global in the series and reportedly was the highest-paid driver on the IndyCar grid.

However, as Cadillac's F1 entry was approved by the FIA and Formula One Management, Herta’s name popped up as a potential driver. The Andretti driver couldn't acquire enough points for a superlicence and was only confirmed by Cadillac as a reserve driver, with Dan Towriss confirming that Colton Herta would also race in F2 in 2026.

Herta recently confirmed Hitech GP as the team that he would be racing for in F2 in the 2026 season. The American had previously come out and revealed the reason behind his move from IndyCar to F2, detailing how it was his last shot at a chance to fulfill the F1 dream.

NTT INDYCAR Series Java House Grand Prix of Monterey - Source: Getty

The former IndyCar driver recently came out and detailed the role played by Cadillac F1 Team Principal Graeme Lowdon and the team leadership in convincing him to make the move away from IndyCar. He said, (via ESPN)

“I think the good thing is Graeme's a very convincing person. Graeme mentioned it last year about halfway through the IndyCar season. We started looking into it and kind of the positives and negatives of it, and I think the positives kind of quite heavily outweighed the negatives of it. I think it's going to be cool.” “I think [Lowdon] and a few other people behind the scenes kind of made it an easy decision. They laid it out. They said, 'Look, this is what we want to do.' I mean, there's nothing really out there that, like, 'Oh, I need to do this, I need to do that.'” added Herta

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Will Buxton details the “huge challenge” amid Colton Herta's move to F2

Will Buxton came out on the Fast and the Curious podcast, calling out FIA’s superlicence points system, which pushed Colton Herta to make the F2 move to fulfill the F1 dream. As Herta's F2 team was confirmed for the 2026 season, Buxton took to the social media platform X and detailed the huge challenge for the IndyCar star, as he wrote,

“Circuits he doesn’t know. A tire that takes a huge amount of understanding. A style of racing he isn’t used to. And a field that shouldn’t be underestimated. I respect his drive, ambition and the massive risk he’s taking. Despite his talent and experience it’s a huge challenge.”

Colton Herta needs to finish P8 or higher in the 2026 F2 championship to get enough points for a superlicence.

Edited by Pranay Bhagi