The Big Lead

Colton Herta is 'kind of tired' of all the F1 talk ahead of 2025 IndyCar season

Colton Herta has long been seen as the big hope for a U.S. driver in Formula 1, but he says the constant chatter is starting to grind him down.

By Simon Head

NTT IndyCar Series driver Colton Herta suits up before qualification for the Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024.
NTT IndyCar Series driver Colton Herta suits up before qualification for the Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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For most drivers, being linked with a possible Formula 1 drive is the stuff of dreams. But Colton Herta's heard it all before, and he's getting tired of it.

The IndyCar ace has long been thought of as the big hope for an American driver on the F1 grid, and his name always seems to crop up during the F1 off-season, when talk of driver changes hits overdrive.

His affiliation with the Andretti racing team, who have been campaigning hard for a spot in F1, has kept his name in the mix, with the team stating that he'd be their first choice for a drive if they did make it onto the grid.

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Herta was also linked with a possible drive for Red Bull's second team, AlphaTauri, but red tape stopped things from progressing due to Herta not possessing a superlicense, a requirement for all drivers who race in Formula 1.

Herta's name has returned to the conversation as a result of Cadillac earning a spot on the F1 grid from 2026, with US racing legend Mario Andretti saying that "the goal from the beginning was to have at least one American driver" in the lineup, and revealing that Herta is "very likely" at the top of that list.

But Herta, who is prepping for a tilt at the 2025 IndyCar championship for the Andretti Global team, is trying to stay focused on the job at hand.

"I’ve kind of been dragged around in this talk for, it feels like, half a decade now," he said at an IndyCar pre-season press conference.

"I’ve had the carrot in front of me for a while. I’m kind of tired of that being the case, and I just want to drive at this point and focus on IndyCar this year and focus on winning a championship, and if something arises out of that, I’d have to think about it.

"It’s still not a sure thing. All my friends and family are here in the U.S., and I don’t know anybody where I’m going, so it’s a big decision to make if I have to make that decision."

Talk of Herta's superlicense status continued to bubble away ahead of the new IndyCar season. Herta currently sits on 39 superlicense points, just one short of the 40 needed to qualify for an F1 drive. But the constant talk about the possibility has started to wear on the 24-year-old.

"I guess the answer to that is I didn't even know what the math was to get a superlicense," Herta told reporters.

"If it happens, it happens, great, and then I'll have a decision to make, if I'm still wanted. If it doesn't happen, then poor me, I'm stuck racing IndyCars.

"I'll be alright either way."

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