Herta one point from F1 superlicence ahead of Mexico City FP1

Colton Herta is set to take Valtteri Bottas's car for FP1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix; completing 100km would earn him the final point for an F1 superlicence. Cadillac says Herta is on 39 points after his United States Grand Prix FP1 appearance, with 40 required.

Mexico City will be Herta's fifth FP1 outing of the season; after it, he will have driven in all five of Cadillac's FP1 sessions. He earned points in Barcelona, Hungary and the United States. His Italian appearance in place of Sergio Perez brought no superlicence point: technical problems limited him to five laps, or 25km.

The 40-point threshold has already shaped Herta's F1 prospects. In 2022, the FIA did not grant Herta a waiver for a possible F1 move because he lacked the required 40 points in a three-year period. Most of Herta's current total comes from 2024, when he finished runner-up to Alex Palou in IndyCar and earned 30 superlicence points.

Speculation has also grown that Herta could be in line for a 2027 race seat if Bottas is not retained. Cadillac boss Marcin Budkowski did not rule out a change to the driver line-up when asked in Austin. In Cadillac's team preview, Herta said every opportunity to drive for the team was valuable and that he looked forward to building experience on a new circuit. The 100km target is about 24 laps at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.