Herta wants to keep racing in 2027 while chasing a Cadillac F1 seat

Colton Herta returned to the Circuit of the Americas in Cadillac’s Formula 1 car on Friday, at the site of his first IndyCar victory. He still wants a Cadillac F1 seat as soon as possible, but says he also wants to race in 2027 rather than spend the year solely as a reserve.

That first win came in 2019, on Herta’s third IndyCar start. At 18 years and 359 days old, he became the series’ youngest race winner. He said it felt special to drive the Cadillac in front of his home crowd.

Friday’s outing also had a development purpose. Herta completed 21 laps in the MAC-26, finishing 21st in the session, 3.9 seconds off the lead. Half the session was spent on aerodynamic runs intended to guide Cadillac’s development direction for 2027; Herta said the planned runs were completed as intended.

To make an F1 debut, Herta needs the 40-point threshold for an FIA superlicence. He believes one more practice outing later in 2026 could take him there, though he said he did not know exactly where his tally stood.

At the time of the Austin weekend, Herta was 19th in the 2026 F2 standings with 26 points. His most recent points came at the Belgian round before the summer break, and he described his season as disappointing.

Herta wants a programme that would put him in a race car at least a few times in 2027, whether part-time or full-time. He has not ruled out returning to F2 if Cadillac retains Valtteri Bottas for another year or opts for a left-field alternative.