Formula 1 has announced that Cadillac and General Motors will be entering the sport in 2026, adding two extra cars to the grid.
The new team has their sights set on recruiting American Indycar driver Colton Herta to race for them. But Herta was deined from competing in F1 by the FIA previously, and may be denied again in the future due to an anomaly in the rules.
Andretti wants Colton Herta
With F1 recently announcing that they’ve agreed a deal for General Motors and Cadillac to join the Formula 1 grid in 2026, all eyes are now on which drivers will fill the two new seats. And Indycar driver Colton Herta seems to be an early front-runner.
Mario Andretti is a director on the board of the new GM team. Speaking to Motorsport.com shortly after the announcement, Mario said “From the beginning of this project, the team has always looked at the prospect of Colton Herta being one of the drivers.”
Back in 2022 Herta completed his maiden F1 test with McLaren. Whilst no comparative lap-time data was released, Colton was happy with his pace and Mario was very impressed with the Indycar driver’s performance in the F1 car.
Being an American driver it makes sense that GM and Cadillac would want Herta for their American team. But a peculiarity with the FIA Superlicence, which all F1 drivers are required to obtain, means that Herta might not be able to compete after all.
F1 Superlicence system
All Formula 1 drivers have to hold an FIA Superlicence to be able to compete in the top level of motorsport. There are number of prerequisites to obtaining a superlicence:
- Minimum age of 18 (or 17 in exceptional circumstances)
- Holder of a Grade A International competition licence
- Passing an FIA theory test on F1 sporting code rules & regs
- Completed at least 80% of each of two seasons in qualifying championships
- Accumulated at least 40 points over the last 3 seasons in any qualifying championships
The table below shows the Superlicence points available for 10 of the biggest motorsport championships in the world, including Indycar.
The first four requirements are not an issue for Herta, he has already met those or would do so easily (the theory test is much of a formality).
The fifth requirement was amended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to allow drivers to use points from the 3 best-scoring seasons out of the previous 4 seasons, if the four-year window includes 2021.
Despite the change, it’s here where Herta reaches a stumbling block. He has been competing in Indycar successfully since 2019. He’s had 9 wins, 14 pole-positions and 14 podiums. Yet he still doesn’t have enough Superlicence points to qualify for F1.
If we look back at his previous 4 seasons’ Indycar championship finishing positions we can see the superlicence points they accrue:
- 2021: P5 – 8 points
- 2022: P10 – 1 point
- 2023: P10 – 1 point
- 2024: P2 – 30 points
So if he used points from 2024, 2023 OR 2022, and 2021 he’d have a total of 39 points, one shy of the 40 required.
There are other ways to obtain points:
- 1 point – completing at least 100km in an F1 free practice session
- 2 points – completing an FIA championship without any penalty points
- 5 points – winning the Macau Grand Prix
Herta has never driven during an official F1 practice session, only on a seperate test day, so that doesn’t count. Indycar is not governed by the FIA so he gets no points for avoiding any penalties. And he has never won the Macau Grand Prix. So no bonus points there.
If he does get the Cadillac seat he won’t be joining the grid until 2026. He is contracted to race with Andretti in Indycar during 2025, so he has one more season to try and gain some more points.
By 2026 he’ll only be able to use points from 2025, 2024 and 2023 seasons. So he needs to finish 4th or higher (10 points or more) in the Indycar championship to get to 40 Superlicence points.
FIA previously rejected Herta's superlicence
After his successful F1 test mid-2022, a number of F1 teams started to show serious interest in signing Herta. Red Bull were lining him up for an AlphaTauri seat in 2023, taking the spot left vacant by Pierre Gasly who was going to depart for Alpine.
By the end of 2022, Herta only had 32 Superlicence points, 8 away from where he needed to be. Regardless, Red Bull approached the FIA to discuss his application. The Superlicence allows for the FIA to use discretion in the case of Force Majeure with circumstances outside of the driver’s control.
Red Bull’s argument surrounded Herta’s 2018 season in Indy Lights. For a driver to receive a full allocation of Superlicence points from a season, that season must have a minimum of 16 drivers competing full time. The 2018 Indy Lights didn’t have that amount, so Herta only received a percentage of the available points.
Red Bull claimed that the entry list size was outside of his control. But following pressure from other F1 team bosses to uphold the rules, the FIA rejected Red Bull’s application and didn’t grant Herta a Superlicence.
Colapinto granted Superlicence with 39 points
Franco Colapinto joined the Formula 1 grid earlier this year to take the Williams seat from the damage-hungry Logan Sargeant.
But when he joined the grid, there was a lot of confusion amongst fans about how he accrued enough points to be awarded a Superlicence.
This thread on Reddit gives the best breakdown and explanation of the situation. In short, by the time he joined Williams, he had only accrued 39 points, the same as Herta, and one below the required 40. The FIA used their discretion, based on an unknown reason, to allow him to enter F1.
Some speculated that his participation in FP1 at Silverstone in 2024 gave him the extra point, but in theory 2024 wasn’t one of hia qualifying years, so it shouldn’t have counted. Either way, based on the evidence, Franco didn’t have the 40 points.
A cynic might suggest that the FIA are happy to make exception for drivers who have come through their own feeder series (F2, F3) more than those from other series such as Indycar. Let’s hope this isn’t an issue for Herta joining F1 in 2026.
