Colton Herta, one of IndyCar’s brightest young stars, is making a bold pivot toward Formula 1. On Wednesday, Cadillac announced the 25-year-old Californian will join its new F1 team as a test driver, beginning in 2026.
The move means Herta will step away from IndyCar after this season, leaving a prime seat at Andretti Global that will be filled by two-time series champion Will Power.
For Herta, the appointment is both an arrival and a waiting game. While Cadillac has locked in Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as its full-time race drivers for its debut F1 campaign, Herta’s test role positions him as the obvious next man up. The catch: he’s still five points shy of the 40 required to earn an FIA Super License, the credential needed to compete in Formula 1.
That leaves the 2026 season as something of a gap year for Herta. He could chase points in Formula 2 or build mileage in Friday practice sessions to close the gap. Team officials have said either route remains on the table, though Herta himself has downplayed a move to the junior ranks.
“It’s a significant moment to have an American driver involved in an American-led Formula 1 team,” Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon said. “Colton is enormously talented, and this program sets him on a path toward competing at the very highest level.”
Cadillac, backed by General Motors, is preparing for its long-anticipated F1 debut in 2026. For Herta, the test driver role keeps the dream alive while marking a dramatic pause in a U.S. career that had already produced seven IndyCar wins.
The question now is not if Herta will get his Formula 1 shot, but when. Many in the paddock expect that once he clears the licensing hurdle, he’ll be first in line should a Cadillac race seat open in 2027.
Until then, Herta will trade IndyCar’s familiar ovals and road courses for the simulator, the garage, and the practice sessions of a global stage. Herta now aims to become the next American to race in F1; the most recent was Logan Sargeant (Williams, 2023 and part of 2024).