Mario Andretti confirms Colton Herta is at the top of Cadillac’s F1 driver list

According to racing legend and Cadillac advisor Mario Andretti, American IndyCar driver Colton Herta is still the odds-on favorite to be called up for driving duty when the team hits the Formula 1 grid for the 2026 season. And he says the General-Motors-backed squad is looking to finalize its driver roster soon.

“Looking back at the way Colton has trained from the very beginning of his young career — as you know, he started in Formula 3 and so on with the likes of Lando Norris, and he’s done some F1 testing,” Andretti said. “Zak Brown gave him a good test at Portimao in Portugal. You should see the report that we got from [team principal] Andrea Stella. And Andrea is an individual that says it like it is — so again, [Herta’s] a great candidate. And all of this has to be proven, of course, but going in, he’s a good bet, in my opinion.”

The once-Andretti-branded 11th team has never made a secret of wanting to pair an American driver with an experienced F1 veteran. As Andretti mentioned, Herta has already tested an F1 car for McLaren at Portimao, back in 2022. In 2024, he ended his IndyCar season with Andretti Global as runner-up in the series, and will continue his title hunt with the team for 2025.

Colton Herta, driving the McLaren MCL35M in his test at Portimao

Photo by: McLaren

“Some mistakes were made last year that cost him a championship, and unfortunately that happens,” Andretti told Motorsport. “Sometimes you put too much pressure on yourself and then you make that mistake. But when you look at the ingredients that were there, you had the ingredients of a champion. But for just one of those instances, he could have been champion. So, when you look back and assess all those things, you’ve got to feel pretty good.”

When asked if he felt the 24-year-old showed a different side to his game in 2024 by being a more consistent frontrunner to match his natural turn of speed, Andretti said. “Not only that, but he’s also very versatile. He’s good in every area, like the ovals, short ovals, superspeedway. He’s competitive everywhere, so he’s definitely championship material.

As for the timing of signing drivers, Andretti confirmed that the process is in progress. “Everything is on-going right now. You think about those things every day, and that’s going to become official probably mid-year,” he said.

“We are obviously looking at every aspect of every opportunity that’s there. It’s clear that the objectives are to have at least one American driver and then another experienced driver alongside, and start like that.”

One of Herta’s next hurdles: getting his FIA superlicense. Winning the 2024 IndyCar season finale in Nashville briefly raised his superlicense points tally to 39, out of a required 40. But as of the new year, Herta has 32 points, a result of his 2021 season dropping out of the superlicense total that pushes Herta farther back from the magic number.

Finishing in the top five this IndyCar season would get him fully across the line. But Herta can also earn one point per Formula 1 FP1 session, as long as he completes 100km in each outing. With teams now being required to run four rookies per year in practice sessions, there may be more opportunities for Herta to log crucial superlicense points and get useful seat time.