IndyCar race-winner Colton Herta is making an unusual career change for 2026 by leaving America\u2019s top single-seater series to race in Formula 2.<\/p>\n
With seven seasons of IndyCar racing under his belt, he has significantly more experience at this level than those he will go up against. Herta will turn 26 years old in the same month as next year\u2019s Formula 2 season-opener, meaning he is also quite a bit older than a typical F2 driver.<\/p>\n
But his team mate is not one of them. Ritomo Miyata is already 26, which means their Hitech team has an unusually mature driver line-up among its Formula 2 rivals.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not uncommon for F1 teams to promote some drivers who are younger than those racing in F2. But Hitech\u2019s 2026 line-up is a particularly unusual case.<\/p>\n
Miyata is older than 10 drivers who will contest the 2026 F1 season<\/a>, including the world champion Lando Norris<\/a>. Herta is older than eight of those already in F1.<\/p>\n Five F1 teams will have driver line-ups which are older, on average, than Hitech\u2019s F2 duo. These include reigning champions McLaren plus 2025 race-winners Red Bull and Mercedes.<\/p>\n Both Racing Bulls drivers are younger than each of the Hitech racers, despite both of them having raced in Formula 2 before. Haas also has a younger driver line-up, on average, than the Hitech pair:<\/p>\n Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free<\/a><\/p>\n Herta became the youngest driver to win an IndyCar race<\/a> with his victory at the Circuit of the Americas<\/a> in 2019, when he was 18 years old. Despite winning nine times in the series and placing second in the championship last year he was unable to collect enough FIA superlicence points to qualify to race in F1.<\/p>\n After Herta confirmed his move into F2, the FIA announced it will increase the number of superlicence points it awards to IndyCar drivers from 2026. Herta will also serve as a test driver for new team Cadillac next year as he hopes to race for the team in 2027. The newcomers will have the oldest line-up on the F1 grid next year.<\/p>\n F1 drivers\u2019 ages at the first race of 2026<\/p>\n Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Colton Herta will be 25 years, 349 days; Ritomo Miyata 26 years, 217 days<\/p>\n
\nDriver
\nTeam
\nAge at first race<\/p>\n
\nArvid Lindblad
\nRacing Bulls
\n18 years, 217 days<\/p>\n
\nAndrea Kimi Antonelli
\nMercedes
\n19 years, 200 days<\/p>\n
\nOliver Bearman
\nHaas
\n20 years, 309 days<\/p>\n
\nGabriel Bortoleto
\nAudi
\n21 years, 150 days<\/p>\n
\nIsack Hadjar
\nRed Bull
\n21 years, 166 days<\/p>\n
\nFranco Colapinto
\nAlpine
\n22 years, 291 days<\/p>\n
\nLiam Lawson
\nRacing Bulls
\n24 years, 31 days<\/p>\n
\nOscar Piastri
\nMcLaren
\n24 years, 342 days<\/p>\n
\nLando Norris
\nMcLaren
\n26 years, 122 days<\/p>\n
\nLance Stroll
\nAston Martin
\n27 years, 137 days<\/p>\n
\nGeorge Russell
\nMercedes
\n28 years, 28 days<\/p>\n
\nCharles Leclerc
\nFerrari
\n28 years, 150 days<\/p>\n
\nMax Verstappen
\nRed Bull
\n28 years, 166 days<\/p>\n
\nEsteban Ocon
\nHaas
\n29 years, 179 days<\/p>\n
\nAlexander Albon
\nWilliams
\n29 years, 357 days<\/p>\n
\nPierre Gasly
\nAlpine
\n30 years, 37 days<\/p>\n
\nCarlos Sainz Jnr
\nWilliams
\n31 years, 196 days<\/p>\n
\nSergio Perez
\nCadillac
\n36 years, 50 days<\/p>\n
\nValtteri Bottas
\nCadillac
\n36 years, 201 days<\/p>\n
\nNico Hulkenberg
\nAudi
\n38 years, 211 days<\/p>\n
\nLewis Hamilton
\nFerrari
\n41 years, 70 days<\/p>\n
\nFernando Alonso
\nAston Martin
\n44 years, 233 days<\/p>\n