Colton Herta confirmed that he was indeed faster than Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi when he lapped in the Sauber simulator.<\/p>\n
Herta revealed that it was at the Hungaroring where he virtually outpaced 2007 world champion Raikkonen and Giovinazzi, the team\u2019s drivers at the time when it competed as Alfa Romeo. Herta did, however, play down how relevant that achievement was to real-life driving.<\/p>\n
Colton Herta faster than Kimi Raikkonen in Sauber simulator<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n When Michael Andretti attempted to purchase Sauber, Herta was strongly linked with an F1 seat for 2022.<\/p>\n Herta headed to the team\u2019s Hinwil base for a simulator test. 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti claimed that by day three, Herta was faster than Raikkonen and Giovinazzi.<\/p>\n Michael Andretti\u2019s takeover bid fell through, as did Herta\u2019s hopes of being on the 2022 grid.<\/p>\n Alfa Romeo instead brought in an all-new driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it was true,\u201d he confirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, I think, it\u2019s cool to be able to say you\u2019re faster than them in the simulator, but it doesn\u2019t really mean much unless you can do it in real life.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a good thing for teams to see, and then they\u2019re like, \u2018Okay, maybe he\u2019s worth the investment of a test.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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\u2019s a cool thing to say!\u201d<\/p>\n Clarifying the track which he drove in this simulator session, Herta said: \u201cThat was at Hungary.\u201d<\/p>\n More on Colton Herta from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Colton Herta reveals \u2018very real\u2019 AlphaTauri chance left F1 dream fading<\/a><\/p>\n Mario Andretti backs Colton Herta after \u2018unsatisfactory\u2019 Formula 2 debut<\/a><\/p>\n Herta also got the chance to meet future Alfa Romeo driver Bottas and take a closer look at the factory.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was cool. And I enjoyed my time there,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s the first time I met Valtteri, because he was coming over from Mercedes to there, so he was doing a seat fit.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, nothing came of it. But, it was a cool time to have a little bit of an insight into it.\u201d<\/p>\n After a later AlphaTauri F1 opportunity also collapsed, Herta now has a fresh shot at making it to Formula 1 with Cadillac.<\/p>\n Herta is set to make his FP1 debut with the team at the Spanish Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n