Colton Herta confirmed that he was indeed faster than Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi when he lapped in the Sauber simulator.
Herta revealed that it was at the Hungaroring where he virtually outpaced 2007 world champion Raikkonen and Giovinazzi, the team’s drivers at the time when it competed as Alfa Romeo. Herta did, however, play down how relevant that achievement was to real-life driving.
Colton Herta faster than Kimi Raikkonen in Sauber simulator
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When Michael Andretti attempted to purchase Sauber, Herta was strongly linked with an F1 seat for 2022.
Herta headed to the team’s Hinwil base for a simulator test. 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti claimed that by day three, Herta was faster than Raikkonen and Giovinazzi.
Michael Andretti’s takeover bid fell through, as did Herta’s hopes of being on the 2022 grid.
Alfa Romeo instead brought in an all-new driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
During an appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Herta was asked whether that story of him outpacing Raikkonen and Giovinazzi in the sim was true.
“Yes, it was true,” he confirmed.
“But, I think, it’s cool to be able to say you’re faster than them in the simulator, but it doesn’t really mean much unless you can do it in real life.
“I think it’s a good thing for teams to see, and then they’re like, ‘Okay, maybe he’s worth the investment of a test.’
“It definitely feels good when you get out of the sim. But as far as does it equate to real life success? Maybe, maybe not. That’s a cool thing to say!”
Clarifying the track which he drove in this simulator session, Herta said: “That was at Hungary.”
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Herta also got the chance to meet future Alfa Romeo driver Bottas and take a closer look at the factory.
“That was cool. And I enjoyed my time there,” he continued. “It’s a really cool factory that they have there, and especially the wind tunnel setup that they have there. It was neat to see all that while that was going on.
“And it’s the first time I met Valtteri, because he was coming over from Mercedes to there, so he was doing a seat fit.
“Unfortunately, nothing came of it. But, it was a cool time to have a little bit of an insight into it.”
After a later AlphaTauri F1 opportunity also collapsed, Herta now has a fresh shot at making it to Formula 1 with Cadillac.
Herta is set to make his FP1 debut with the team at the Spanish Grand Prix.
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