IndyCar star spreads the biggest USA F1 rumour – The motorsport world is abuzz with the kind of rumour that usually starts in a paddock bar, travels through three espresso-fuelled journalists and ends up on the internet’s front page. Colton Herta, the California kid of IndyCar with a talent for chaos and overtaking, is apparently packing his bags for Europe. According to his long-time rival and occasional troublemaker, Pato O’Ward, Herta isn’t just sightseeing, he’s heading straight for Formula 1, not just to test some simulator buttons, but to secure a seat.
In his trademark mix of sincerity and overconfidence, Pato told Racer.com that he would be “shocked” if Herta wasn’t in Formula 1 by 2027.
Shocked, mind you, as if the FIA had banned DRS mid-race or Fernando Alonso had announced his retirement and actually meant it this time.
“I don’t think he would make that move if it wasn’t on the table,” said O’Ward, clearly convinced that Herta’s F1 destiny has already been scribbled into a secret appendix of the Cadillac contract.
“I’d be surprised if he’s only doing this for fun,” he added, as though Formula 2 were a holiday destination rather than a place of endless tyre degradation and existential despair.
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Colton Herta: test driver or glorified mascot?
Let’s be clear, Herta isn’t being dropped into an F1 race seat just yet. He’s joining Cadillac’s Formula 1 project as a test driver. In F1 terms, that’s like being handed the keys to a Ferrari and being told you can only rev it while it’s parked.
Meanwhile, he’ll moonlight in Formula 2 with the Hitech team, where he’ll need to master everything from Pirelli’s temperamental tyres to the art of smiling politely through post-race interviews about ‘learning experiences’.
Cadillac’s official line was diplomatic, which, in corporate speak, means ‘don’t get your hopes up’.
The team confirmed the F2 move, calling it a “big risk” which roughly translates to ‘we like Colton, but we also enjoy plausible deniability’.
CEO Dan Towriss was full of PR poetry: “Colton has already demonstrated exceptional talent and great professionalism. His move to Formula 2 is a logical and important next step towards Formula 1”.
This kind of statement sounds reassuring until you realise it could apply to anyone with a helmet and a passport.
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The Big Risk of Leaving IndyCar
In Cadillac’s defence, they’re not wrong; it is a big risk. In IndyCar, Herta is a star with race wins and fans, and he probably has a better car than he’ll get in F2.
In Formula 2, however, he’ll be piloting a car that handles like it’s made of buttered optimism and costs twice as much to repair. It’s a move that screams ambition or madness, possibly both. O’Ward, who is familiar with the transatlantic dream chase himself, knows the perils of Formula 1’s glamorous circus.
“The task is huge,” he said. “The tyres are completely different. The car is much worse than an IndyCar, so it’s definitely a downgrade in terms of performance and driving feel.”
Words that must make the F2 paddock feel warm and appreciated.
Nevertheless, O’Ward isn’t wrong. Formula 2 is a battlefield of youngsters’ egos and degrading tyres, a proving ground where young drivers learn to suffer gracefully before being told they’re not quite good enough for Formula 1. Herta will have to adapt to the unique blend of politics, pressure and post-race pasta that is the European racing scene. If he doesn’t, he’ll be back in IndyCar before you can say ‘super licence points’.
The big rumour is…
The tantalising part of O’Ward’s claim isn’t just that Herta might make it to Formula 1; it’s that he’s supposedly already been promised a place.
Ah, yes: the infamous F1 promise, an ancient tradition in which a driver is given a glimmer of hope over dinner, tweets something cryptic, and then discovers six months later that the team has hired someone else. If there really is a 2027 deal in the works, Herta should probably get it in writing and notarised, and tattooed somewhere visible.
Cadillac’s entry into Formula 1, now that the bureaucratic gods at the FIA have finally allowed it, adds an extra layer of intrigue.
An American driver racing for an American team backed by an American manufacturer? Liberty Media must be salivating. The Netflix cameras will explode. The only thing missing will be a subplot involving Taylor Swift attending a Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Herta’s departure leaves a sizeable hole in the IndyCar garage. O’Ward admitted as much: “If he doesn’t secure an F1 seat, he’ll miss the IndyCar series. I know that.”
It’s a bittersweet sentiment, though, given IndyCar’s ongoing driver reshuffle, ‘missing’ might just mean ‘taking someone else’s seat later’.
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Formula 1’s Great American Dream
It’s no secret that Formula 1 has been courting America more than ever, three races, one Vegas spectacle, and a PR campaign that could make even NASCAR blush. Herta’s move could be the next chapter in that love story: the California wunderkind who conquers Europe and gives America a homegrown F1 hero.
The irony, of course, is that he’ll first have to survive the chaotic world of Formula 2, where talent often takes a back seat to timing, money and the occasional safety car lottery.
If he succeeds, though, he will have achieved something remarkable: not only escaping the gravitational pull of IndyCar, but doing so with his sanity intact. That alone deserves a championship.
The O’Ward Factor
As for O’Ward himself, his comments are a mixture of friendly encouragement and faintly jealous foreshadowing. He’s been down this road before, courted by McLaren, tested by F1, then politely escorted back to IndyCar with a pat on the back and a ‘maybe next time’. His hope that Herta’s move is genuine seems sincere, yet also tinged with wistfulness, as though he’s watching his own reflection in someone else’s opportunity.
Nevertheless, his faith in Herta’s talent is genuine. “He’s going to be our representative in IndyCar,” he said.
“We want him to make it to Formula 1, and we want him to do well.”
So, will Colton Herta actually race in Formula 1 by 2027? Maybe. Will the path there be littered with obstacles, politics and enough PR spin to power a wind turbine? Absolutely. But one thing’s certain: if Pato O’Ward would be shocked not to see Herta in F1, the rest of us would be equally shocked if this saga doesn’t take at least three dramatic twists along the way.
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Lewis Hamilton now has the worst ever record for a new driver joining the Ferrari team in 75 years of history. His much vaunted arrival in Maranello has gone incredibly sour as the former Mercedes six times world champion is running out of road.
The British driver’s racing statistics are plummeting as the world’s most winning F1 driver is suffering an end of career crisis. With just two Grand Prix wins in the last four seasons – one of those gifted to him by his team mate’s disqualification has seen Hamilton’s all time win to race start ratio collapse.
In his last 88 starts Lewis has just the two wins and so his career stats have collapsed from a nigh on a record 35% win rate to just 27.93% behind both Michael Schumacher (29.55%) and his arch rival Max Verstappen (29.69%) For the record Jim Clarke remains top of this list with a win ratio of 34.25%, although his 73 Grand Prix career was cut short by a tragic early death.
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Hamilton now holds the worst ever record for a new Ferrari driver in terms of races before he claims his first podium for the Scuderia. The previous record of eighteen was held by ‘also ran; driver Diddier Pireoni now Hamilton is the latest Ferrari driver to sit in the shadows.
Meanwhile, without the advantage he had in the SF-25, Charles Leclerc has been making th best of a bad job in 2025. He has seven podiums after his triumph in Mexico and leads his champion team mate by 210-146. The Monegasque driver is 15-5 ahead in Grand Prix qualifying and has finished a whopping 17 times ahead of his most decorated team mate.
Yet Hamilton in his previous three years since losing out on a record eight F1 drivers’ championship has been a shadow of his former self, with George Russell beating him year in and out. Russel had one more win (although Lewis was gifted one) than Hamilton in their three years together at Mercedes, but in their final season together the statistics were crushing for Lewis…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
Craig.J. Alderson is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Craig oversees newsroom operations and coordinates editorial output across the site. With a background in online sports reporting and motorsport magazine editing, he plays a key role in maintaining consistency, speed, and accuracy in TJ13’s coverage.
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