Last Updated on August 25 2025, 11:48 am
Formula One and North American’s latest iteration of their premier single seater racing series Indycar, have over the years gone their operate ways. In F1 each year the teams build their own racing prototypes which are unique whilst Indycar is a ‘spec’ series, where all the cars are the same and built by Dallara.
The number of Indycar drivers coming across to Formula One these days is non-existent. The last successful transfer from US racing to F1 was Jacques Villeneuvre who won a Cart series along with the Indy500 before moving to Williams Racing where he claimed the 1997 drivers’ championship.
However, a number of drivers have gone from F1 to IndyCar in recent years and with notable successes following. Alexander Rossi was in an around the sport for a number of years, but completed just seven race weekends for the doomed Marussia Manor team. He returned to the US in 2016 as a rookie in Indycar and famously won the centenary running of the blue ribbon event, the Indy500.
F1 drivers moving to Indycar
Marcus Ericsson too has found a home across the pond after an F1 carer which saw him in midfield cars at best. He debuted win 2014 with the ill fated Caterham team before moving to Sauber where he was a first choice full time driver from 2015-2018. After losing his seat, Ericsson moved to Indycar and in his third year and with the Chip Ganassi squad, he also won the “greatest spectacle in racing” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2022.
Legendary Japanese driver Tacuma Sato was another F1 graduate who went racing stateside. His F1 career spanned eight seasons racing for the likes of Jordan, BAR and Super Aguri. ‘Taki’ as he was known left F1 for Indycar in 2010 and his winless F1 career was transformed as he became a double Indy500 winner drinking the milk and kissing the yard of bricks in 2017 and 2020.
Formula One history has a history of US born racers taking to the sport in its early years. The most famous of all being Mario Andretti who conquered the F1 world in 1978. All in all Andretti committed himself to fourteen years in Formula One before heading back to the US in 1984 where he claimed his fourth Champ car drivers’ title.
F1 paddock obsession with US born driver
In recent years there’s been almost an obsession in the F1 paddock, for a team to recruit an American born driver. Logan Sargeant briefly fulfilled the requirement, but the hapless Floridian was replaced by Williams with nine races to go in the 2024 season. One or two names from the Indycar stable have been regularly suggested as F1 candidates, with Mexican driver Pato O’Ward in pole position given he’s the lead driver for Arrow McLaren in Indycar.
Yet one name returns time and again when the topic of American drivers coming to F1 is raised. Colton Herta from California, the son of a racing driver and child prodigy, came to Europe in 2015 in an effort to climb the junior formulae on the way to F1.
He made his debut in the UK-based MSA Formula series, as the youngest driver and the only American on a grid that consisted mostly of Britons, and claimed his first win in the second race at Snetterton Circuit in August, thus helping the United States win the Nations Cup. He went on to collect three more victories throughout the season, finishing third overall.
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Colten Herta, the golden boy
For 2016, he was planning to move to the newly renamed BRDC British F3 series but was too young to compete at the opening round. Wanting to complete a full season, he made the switch to the Euroformula Open Championship, staying with Carlton and finished third in points, with four victories, six podium finishes, and five pole positions. Herta went on to compete in six British F3 events, earning three podium finishes including a victory at Brands Hatch but he failed to find his way into the International F3 feeder series and so returned to the US where competed in the Indycar feeder series, Indylights.
Colton made his full Indycar debut in 2019 and was picked up the following year by front running outfit Andretti Racing. Herta now has 16 poles, 9 wins and 19 podiums in Indycar but has yet to claim a championship or a win at the Indy500. Despite this, the impression he made during his triumphant British F3 season remains strong and again there is talk of Colton making the move to Formula One.
The problem is the FIA discriminates against racing outside its remit. The points awarded for F1 super license requirements are less in the privately regulated Indycar than they are in Formula Two. With another season which has seen him fail to claim the required super license, Colton hertz is considering a drastic option of downgrading for a year in Formula Two.
A move to F2 to gain super license points
The American, currently with Andretti Global, has been at the centre of speculation about a switch to F1 since 2021. His name was first seriously linked with Sauber when Andretti explored buying the team, even reportedly undergoing a seat fitting before the deal collapsed.
Herta’s F1 buzz reignited in 2022 when he tested McLaren’s TPC car at Portimao, fuelling talk of a possible move to AlphaTauri, now Racing Bulls. But the FIA refused to bend its rules: Herta lacked the mandatory 40 Super Licence points to qualify.
This season, a top-four IndyCar finish would have secured him the licence points he needed. But heading into the final round sixth in the standings, he is now mathematically out of reach. That reality has sparked fresh rumours of him considering an F2 campaign to fast-track his way to Formula 1 eligibility.
Ahead of this weekend’s Snap-On 250 at Milwaukee, Herta shrugged off the reports but didn’t deny the possibility. “I’ve heard those rumours, too,” he said. “That’s all it is right now, is rumours.”
A major lifestyle change
The 25-year-old admitted earlier this year the constant speculation about F1 has worn thin after years of being touted for a seat. “I’ve been dragged around in these talks for, like, half a decade now. I’ve had the carrot in front of me for a while, and I’m kind of tired of that being the case. I just want to drive at this point, focus on IndyCar this year, focus on winning the championship. If something arises out of that, I’d still have to think about it.”
Herta acknowledged that an eventual switch from IndyCar to F1 would require a major life change, especially relocating from the U.S. to Europe. “All my friends and family are here in the U.S., and I don’t know anybody where I would be going, so it’s a big decision to make if I have to make that decision.”
For now, Herta remains committed to IndyCar. But with a Formula 1 seat still dangling just out of reach, the possibility of a bold detour through Formula 2 has only added to the intrigue around his future.
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Formula 1’s sweeping regulation overhaul for 2026 is already looming large in the minds of teams and drivers. The new cars promise to change not only aerodynamics and power units, but also the way drivers themselves must think and operate behind the wheel.
Williams’ Carlos Sainz has admitted after his first simulator sessions that the next-generation cars “it occupies a lot of brain space while you’re driving.” Alex Albon has described. The cars as “very complicated” whilst Lance Stroll likened them to a “science project” adding: “I think a lot of drivers can agree with that, and I don’t think some of them can talk about it for political reasons.”
Albon’s comments drive Williams boss James Vowles to set up a dedicated working group to help drivers adjust their driving style and mental approach to the challenge. The emerging picture is one where F1 drivers of the next era will spend a huge amount of their time in the car, managing the energy resources at their fingertips…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
