Colton Herta (left) is interviewed by Fox Sports’ Jack Harvey. Image: Aaron Skillman
IndyCar’s youngest race winner will join Cadillac as its test and development driver next year, putting him on the path towards Formula 1.
Cadillac has long sought the signature of an American driver for its team, but the availability of one good enough and with sufficient FIA Super Licence points has been a stumbling block.
Herta has been tipped to join Rodin Motorsport, whose line-up currently consists of Amaury Cordeel and Alex Dunne.
Speaking on the latest episode of Off Track with Hinch and Rossi, Towriss said Herta was taking “a big risk” with no guarantee that he will get the Cadillac drive in 2027.
“We have two experienced drivers in the car,” said Towriss.
“I’m confident Colton will get his shot, but he’s got to earn it, right? He’s taking that risk.
“He’s not entitled to that seat, he’s not guaranteed the seat from that standpoint. He’s going over to prove that he belongs in Formula 1.
“I think we could all say that people who don’t belong in Formula 1, it separates it out pretty quickly if it’s not meant to be.”
The move from IndyCar to F2 will give Herta the opportunity to learn the Pirelli tyres and the largely European calendar of circuits before a potential F1 graduation in 2027.
“We’ve been fortunate to keep Colton at Andretti in the IndyCar team and so now he’s going to pursue that dream in Formula 1,” Towriss added.
“To do that, he’s going to take a pretty big risk. He’s leaving IndyCar, he’s not going directly to Formula 1.
“This is a test and development driver role and so he’s going to be going into F2, he’s going to learn tracks, he’s going to learn tyres.
“Tyres are a big part of that. Very different to IndyCar from that standpoint. So I just couldn’t be more proud of Colton to be willing to take that risk to pursue his dream.”
With the carrot of a F1 drive dangled above his head and even with no guarantee that an opportunity would come, Herta stayed the course with Andretti.
Towriss revealed just how close Herta came to F1 when Andretti tried to acquire Sauber.
“It was something we were looking at a few years ago when Michael (Andretti) and I were looking to acquire Sauber. That deal didn’t happen,” Towriss explained.
“Things kind of fell through at the last minute, but it really started Colton on this journey where he really started to show a lot of promise in Formula 1.
“He went over to Switzerland, got on the simulator and within an hour was faster than the two Formula 1 drivers with the team at that time.
“That led to some other things to show some real excitement along the way.
“So he’s built up a natural body of work that not everybody knows about in Formula 1 in terms of the tests that he’s done from that standpoint, even to drawing interest from Red Bull.”