Leaving IndyCar for F2 sets Colton Herta up for F1 -- if he ever gets the call

Colton Herta, 1 of America's brightest racing talents and a prima of IndyCar, is making a stake connected his ain endowment that fewer drivers ever have: he's going backward successful a bid to determination guardant by racing successful Formula 1's superior feeder bid successful 2026.

Joining the Formula 2 grid astatine the property of 25 (he volition crook 26 aft the season's archetypal race) with the Hitech squad is an unprecedented and profoundly risky measurement successful the satellite of modern centrifugal racing. The situation volition beryllium huge: aft years connected the ladder that led up to IndyCar, it's backmost to school. F2 features circuits helium has ne'er raced connected before, Pirelli tires that are incredibly analyzable and frustrating for drivers to understand, against a tract of young talents who person been racing and acclimating to those conditions for years.

The expectations volition beryllium immense -- unrealistic, perhaps, fixed the standard of the situation -- and to galore successful the F1 paddock it is simply a boom-or-bust decision. The optics of Herta struggling successful a tract of drivers importantly younger would beryllium hard to manage, and F2 is simply a bid known for however hard it is for drivers to enactment accordant passim a season: Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli were shining examples of that successful 2024.

Herta, who already has a ft successful the F1 doorway arsenic trial operator of the incoming Cadillac team, has nary illusions astir the task astatine hand.

"I look astatine it arsenic this is astir apt my past changeable astatine Formula 1, fixed my property and everything considered," helium told ESPN astir the move. "For sure, it's untried and untested and it'll beryllium a batch of caller worldly for me, thing caller to enactment connected and learn. I'm excited."

The backing of Cadillac and its F1 squad brag Graeme Lowdon was cardinal successful the decision. The incoming American outfit is present conscionable months distant from its debut astatine the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, and portion it did not fulfill the aboriginal privation of entering the athletics with an American operator successful 1 of its 2 seats, opting alternatively for the acquisition of contention winners Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez, Herta's salient relation wrong the squad -- which volition see a trial programme and astatine slightest 1 Friday signifier league astatine a expansive prix -- tin permission small uncertainty what the company's semipermanent plans for him are.

Nevertheless, helium was not afloat sold connected the F2 thought erstwhile archetypal pitched.

"I deliberation the bully happening is Graeme's a precise convincing person," Herta joked astir what made him determine connected the F2 route. "Graeme mentioned it past twelvemonth astir halfway done the IndyCar season. We started looking into it and benignant of the positives and negatives of it, and I deliberation the positives benignant of rather heavy outweighed the negatives of it. I deliberation it's going to beryllium cool.

"It's an important measurement for me. I deliberation it's a large accidental for maine to larn cars, tires, track, etc., and truly benignant of enactment maine connected the beforehand ft for whenever I bash get a accidental successful Formula 1 to beryllium capable to beryllium successful."

With Cadillac making it wide it was their preferred enactment to marque him F1 ready, it became a no-brainer, careless of what the extracurricular sound mightiness be.

"I deliberation [Lowdon] and a fewer different radical down the scenes benignant of made it an casual decision," Herta said. "They laid it out. They said, 'Look, this is what we privation to do.' I mean, there's thing truly retired determination that, like, 'Oh, I request to bash this, I request to bash that.'

"The astir important happening is to learn, right? Just benignant of recognize what's going on, and that's benignant of been what's been told to maine from the Formula 1 broadside of the squad is really, successful bid for maine to truly assistance arsenic my occupation arsenic a trial operator for the team, it would beryllium to recognize the tracks, recognize the tires. And this is simply a large accidental for maine to bash that."

Herta downplayed the proposition that the unit is connected to beryllium competitory and a rubric contender from the beginning.

"It's a pugnacious championship," helium said. "It's highly bully teams, precise astute engineers. They've each been doing it for a agelong time.

"And, obviously, the drivers you spot ... fundamentally immoderate of the apical 5 guys are ever F1 ready. And whenever they bash marque that measurement up, they're rather rapidly connected the pace, right? So they're beauteous overmuch afloat developed astatine that constituent arsenic acold arsenic the large things and the contention trade and the wide velocity and the cognition of however to thrust a contention car is already there.

"So it seems similar a precise com...