Assessing IndyCar’s Colton Herta’s Two-Day Formula One Test For McLaren At Portiamo

Formula One’s expansion into the United States has been swift and impressive with three events on the 2023 schedule.

The next step for F1 is to find an American driver.

That could be IndyCar’s Colton Herta of Santa Clarita, California. The 22-year-old is already an established name and winning driver at Andretti Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series.

Herta completed a two-day test in a one-year-old Formula One machine for McLaren F1 at Portiamo this week. The circuit in Portugal serves as a great test track to evaluate potential newcomers to F1.

The Backstory

Team owner Michael Andretti was prepared to take Herta to F1 in 2022 before the purchase of the Sauber F1 team fell apart at the end of negotiations over control of the operation.

Sauber wanted Andretti’s $600 million, but Sauber wanted to maintain control of the team.

There was also the problem of Herta’s FIA super license. Despite the fact he has won at the top level of open-wheel racing in the United States, he didn’t have enough points for an FIA super license to compete in Formula One.

Andretti and his longtime friend McLaren CEO Zak Brown met earlier this year with Brown agreeing to give Herta enough testing time to get the points needed for the FIA super license.

Andretti remains hopeful of convincing Formula One of adding a new Andretti-operated team from the United States to the grid, but so far, he has met resistance, especially from Austrian billionaire Toto Wolff, the team principal, and CEO of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1.

Wolff does not want to see Formula One’s team financial shares diluted with the addition of Andretti’s F1 team. Andretti counters that an F1 team based in the United States will open up more North American companies to invest in the incredibly growing international motorsport.

For years, Formula One fans in the United States had to travel to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix or Mexico City or other parts around the world to witness an F1 race in person.

In this century, the United States Grand Prix was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 2000 to 2007. Circuit of the Americas was added to the World Championship in 2012, it was the only venue in the United States that hosted an F1 Grand Prix until Miami was added in May 2022.

Because of a booming interest in Formula One in the United States and worldwide because of the NetflixNFLX
series “Drive to Survive” along with Liberty Media taking control of F1 in 2016, demand is high.

F1 Chief Executive Chase Carey of Liberty Media has given the international racing series the right approach to international promotion and television rights to create an appetite for the series with new fans, particularly the highly sought younger demographic.

To meet that demand, a third United States Grand Prix will take place on the streets of Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Weekend 2023.

The next step is luring more top drivers from around the world into the series. Currently, McLaren’s drivers include Daniel Ricciardo, 33, from Perth, Australia and Lando Norris, 22, from Bristol, England.

Herta and Norris were actually teammates in 2015 in the European junior formulas of racing.

Last year, Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward of Monterey, Mexico tested for McLaren F1 at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on December 14.

This week, it was Herta’s turn for an F1 test with McLaren.

Herta Assesses the Test

“It was a lot of fun, a great two days getting acclimated to the car which is quite a bit different from what I’m used to driving,” Herta said afterwards. “It’s a little bit of a different driving style, but the engineers were very helpful getting me up to speed.

“What a car. What a car to drive. It’s really special to have a first test in a Formula One car, but to have that test in a race winning Formula One car is even cooler.

“I have to thank Andreas Seidl (Team Principal, McLaren F1 Team) and Zak Brown (McLaren CEO) with letting me borrow their car.”

Herta returns to North America for this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto NTT IndyCar Series race. It’s the first time IndyCar has been to Toronto since 2019 because the 2020 and 2021 races on the streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place were cancelled because of the COVD-19 Pandemic.

“Looking forward to this weekend racing in Toronto, but as far as getting acclimated back to the car it won’t be an issue,” Herta said. “I felt like I got acclimated quite quickly to the F1 car. I hope the car I’ve been driving for the last three years won’t be too hard to pop into and go fast.”

Herta went into the F1 test with the intention of driving it as fast as he could once, he got acclimated and up to speed. He said the car handled beautifully and with some setup adjustments in the afternoon, the McLaren crew tailor-made the setup to Herta’s liking.

Herta has a burning desire to become a Formula One driver and was prepared to make the jump after last season. But this week’s test does not mean he is about to leave Andretti’s IndyCar program.

Much has to happen before that opportunity develops.

“It was a good test to see what these cars are all about and the physicality differences to an Indy car,” Herta said. “Formula One is a goal of mine. It has been for a while. There have been instances where I have been close.

“As far as this, it’s just getting seat time. I wanted to see what these cars are all about and luckily McLaren was able to give me the chance.”

Herta was amazed at the torque of the car as well as the straight-line speeds and braking. He didn’t think the cornering speeds jumped out at him as much as he expected.

It was a completely different feel than he gets from an Indy car, mostly because IndyCar doesn’t have power steering. He also had to “slow down his hands” in terms of reaction time.

“I felt like I got to the limit midway through the first day,” he said. “The end of the second day, I was pretty confident putting laps together with low fuel and high fuel and everything in between. But it took a while.

“We went through a lot of different balance changes and inside the car itself, I got to play with all the tools, which is quite a bit more than we can do in an Indy car.

“If you have a problem in a corner, you can adjust it with the flick of a finger.”

Herta stressed that he was driving a one-year-old car, so it’s hard to determine how he ranks against the current Formula One field.

“I felt like I was close,’ Herta said.

It’s the Right Time to Switch

At 22, the time is right for Herta to make a switch to Formula One. The older a driver becomes, the harder it is to make the adjustment.

“If I were to wait long, that wouldn’t happen,” Herta said. “In this day and age in Formula One, it’s a young man’s game to get into it early.

“Luckily, I have a lot of time if the opportunity arises, but I’m not too worried about that at the moment. I just want to go as fast as a I can and hopefully open some doors at some point.”

But is he fast enough?

“You can’t say no to that question or else you wouldn’t be a professional driver,” Herta said. “Yes, I think I’m fast enough. Time will tell. I will need more chances in the car and hopefully, I can show that I am.

“As far as the actual test days, you can’t do better than that because you have the whole day and the whole track to your car. But if I could get a Friday test day, it would be in a 2022 car, and I would definitely be up for that.”

Seidl was impressed with Herta’s adaptability to the F1 car and said the future is “step-by-step.”

“The objective for this test today was to give Colton the chance to explore a Formula One car for the first time,” Seidl said. “That was the objective.

“We’ll take it step-by-step. That’s where we are.”

Seidl revealed that Herta ran 262 laps and 750 kilometers total over the two days of the test.

“The testing objectives were getting Colton focused to the car, then working on different driver techniques and comparing different tire compounds and race simulations,” Seidl explained. “I have to say the team was quite impressed how Colton was dealing with these challenges, his professional approach.

“His physical preparation kept him going over the two days how challenging the Formula One car can be. He had the right balance of speed while keeping the car on the track as well.

“I’m very happy with the way the test went.”

Helping Out A Friend

Herta’s Formula One test with McLaren may eventually become a full-time ride in the World Championship. But it has to be stressed that this week’s test was another example of the cooperation between team owner’s Michael Andretti and Zak Brown.

The two combined forces to field an entry for two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso in the 101^st Indianapolis 500 in 2017. At one time, Andretti and Brown wanted to partner in a full-time IndyCar Series team, but that planned was nixed by Honda because of an ongoing dispute it has with Brown when Honda was McLaren’s Formula One engine.

Brown ultimately joined forces with IndyCar team owners Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson to form what is now Arrow McLaren SP.

Brown and Andretti remain great friends and this is a way for Brown to help Herta complete the process so he can become a Formula One driver.

“It’s confusing to explain a super license,” Brown said. “How can you have a driver that has won seven races in a top level of motorsport and then have a handful of drivers in Formula One that don’t have anywhere near the pedigree of Colton is confusing. It’s a points systems that needs to be looked at.

“Colton Herta is a more accomplished racing driver than some of the drivers on the Formula One grid. It’s a points system where he hasn’t accumulated enough points yet. He will achieve that this year in testing with us. That is the extent of the game plan at the moment.”

Brown is a tremendous supporter of Michael Andretti’s efforts to get a Formula One team but realizes it’s going to be difficult.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Brown cautioned. “I would like to see him in the sport. I have a long history with Michael and his investment group. Unfortunately, you have a handful of teams in Formula One that are short-sighted in their decisions.

“I hope Michael sticks with it, and I hope it happens. I’m not sure it will or won’t, but I recognize the value he brings to the sport. I’m not sure all of my fellow teams feel that way.”

One of Herta’s biggest supporters is Mario Andretti, the racing legend who is the only man to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula One World Championship (1978) in his career.

In fact, Andretti is the last driver from the United States to win the Formula One World Championship.

“Moving from discipline to discipline with drivers is a very healthy thing,” Mario Andretti said. “Colton would like to have a good shot at Formula One for a period until hopefully he accomplishes his own goals.

“He would ultimately come back like I did and resume his career in IndyCar like I did.

“This is all good stuff. This is all good for the sport. I’m a proponent of it. I’ve been part of it, and I think it’s very healthy for IndyCar when its drivers move on to Formula One.”