Colton Herta hedges on if he wants one of the Cadillac F1 seats because of his dedication to IndyCar

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Colton Herta raised eyebrows Friday when the IndyCar driver said he’d have to think about a move to Formula 1 with the new Cadillac team should he earn eligibility for the global series.

Herta does not have the super license required to compete in F1 but would earn it this season by finishing fourth or higher in the IndyCar standings. He finished second last year.

When the F1 effort first started under Michael Andretti it was designed to be an American team with Herta as the American driver. The project no longer involves Andretti because TWG Motorsports, run by former Andretti business partner Dan Towriss, became the majority owners of Andretti Global.

Even with the change, though, it’s been seriously believed that one of the two Cadillac seats would go to Herta if he’s eligible. Other drivers mentioned as candidates for the second seat are Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, all of whom were on the F1 grid last season but don’t have seats for 2025.

But Herta said Friday on the first day of the IndyCar season that it is not a given he will want to make the move.

“I’d be leaving a great group of people I really like working with, so it’s not a sure thing for me,” Herta said. “It’s not an easy decision, just to be like, ‘Alright, see you guys later.’ I’d be giving up an opportunity of maybe never working with these people again.”

He also said he’s grown weary of four years of questions about a future in F1 and is fully focused on winning both the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar championship this season. Herta said he won’t be distracted by F1 in his quest and wants people to stop asking him about a potential move to the series.

Towriss, who bought out Andretti at the end of last season, said he “loved that answer” from Herta.

“I think really what that shows you is how focused he is and how present he is in IndyCar, and so I love that,” Towriss said. “That’s exactly the answer that I would want Colton to give me. We are locked in on the goals for this year. He finished second last year and he knows exactly what he could have changed last year, which races he would have changed. So a few moves away from that top spot.

“He’s worked hard in the offseason, the team has had a great offseason and you know, he wants it bad,” Towriss continued. “It makes no sense for him to be thinking about Formula 1 both in terms of the series, but also what he needs to do (for a super license). So I love that answer.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer