The audition for America's next F1 driver: Colton Herta's McLaren test

F1

Colton Herta has now had his first taste of F1 machinery after testing for McLaren – it could be his first step towards becoming a GP driver

Colton Herta testing McLaren F1 team, 2022

Colton Herta tested for the team

McLaren

Will Colton Herta be America’s next Formula 1 driver? The IndyCar ace took a step closer to achieving that goal when he completed a couple of days of testing for McLaren in Portimao on Monday and Tuesday.

The running, conducted in last year’s MCL35M as allowed by the FIA TPC [testing of previous cars] rules, was the 22-year-old’s first chance to get a taste of F1 power, in the relaxed setting of a solo test. He ran 162 laps in total, or some 750 kilometres, and it was a very much a case of learning as much as he could rather than setting out-and-out lap times.

Comparisons with last May’s Portuguese GP, in which Lando Norris finished fifth and Daniel Ricciardo ninth, are difficult to make, even for the team.

For a start he was running on Pirelli’s ‘young driver’ tyres, which are not the same as race rubber, and secondly the MCL35M underwent some development over the course of 2021, and it was faster by its final race in Abu Dhabi in December. Then there’s the weather, with wind always playing a major role in Portimao, plus the fact that it takes a lot longer to rubber in a track with a single car running.

“What a car to drive – it’s really special” Colton Herta

“It was a lot of fun,” Herta said in a media call on Tuesday evening. “A great two days getting acclimated to the car, which is obviously quite a bit different to what I’m used to driving, a little bit of a different driving style. But the engineers were very helpful in getting me up to speed.

“And what a car, what a car to drive. It’s really special not only to have a first test in a Formula 1 car, but in a race-winning Formula 1 car, it’s even cooler.

“So it was a great opportunity for me. I have to thank Mr Seidl, and Zak and everybody for allowing me to borrow their cars for the last two days…”

The point of the exercise was to get Herta started on the road to F1, but where that road will lead remains to be seen.

Colton Herta testing McLaren F1 team, 2022

Herta racked up 750kms in Portugal

McLaren

With doubts over Ricciardo’s future there’s been talk of a McLaren race seat in 2023 or 2024. Meanwhile Michael Andretti has made it clear that Herta is likely to be involved should his bid for an F1 entry finally be accepted. Is there already a provisional plan in place for him to get some race experience with McLaren and then potentially switch to Andretti – a team that looks set to have a technical partnership with Woking?

Further widening McLaren’s options is the announcement that it has signed reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou to its driver roster from next year, although Chip Ganassi Racing also believes it has Palou under contract.

Whatever the driver contract status, it means McLaren is likely to have several signed drivers vying for a single F1 seat.

The bottom line is that, boosted by Drive to Survive and the current interest in F1 in the USA, there is huge momentum behind Herta, not to mention potential sponsorship. A lot of people would like to see him fast-tracked into a seat, including F1 bosses Stefano Domenicali and Ross Brawn.

The man himself is confident that he can get the job done if he is given the chance.

“F1 has been my goal for a while – there’s been instances where I have been close” Colton Herta

“I mean, you can’t say no to that question or else you wouldn’t be a professional driver!” he smiled. “So yeah, I do think I’m fast enough. Whether people agree or not, I guess time will tell. And hopefully I’ll get some more chances in the car.”

The good thing is that at 22 he has time on his side – he’s not intending to wait 10 years for that chance to come.

“For sure, I think if I were to wait that long, it wouldn’t happen. I think this day and age in Formula 1, it’s definitely like a young man’s game, to get into it early and stuff.

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

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MARCH 12: Colton Herta, driver of the #98 Deltro Energy Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing Mazda, poses with the trophy following Race 2 of the Indy Lights Series Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Copper Tires on March 12, 2017, in St. Petersburg, Fl. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Herta got a taste for European racing with Carlin in F3 and F4 before moving up the IndyCar junior ladder

David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

He added: “Obviously, it is a goal of mine, it has been for a while now. There’s been instances where I have been close. But as far as what’s going on with this, is it’s just to get seat time. The TPC programme, it’s been amazing.”

Those who know Herta well are convinced that he has what it takes, and will be able to make the transition with more success than others who have tried, notably Andretti, whose 1993 season with McLaren remains the obvious point of reference in any discussion about a driver moving from the USA to F1.

Unlike his current team boss, crucially Herta conducted some of his early racing in Europe. After running in F1600 and F2000 in the States he spent the 2015 season, at the tender age of 15, in the MSA Formula 4 Championship.

Driving for Carlin with Norris as his team mate he visited places like Croft, Snetterton, Oulton Park, Thruxton and Knockhill, eventually placing third – behind Norris and future GT and BTCC driver Ricky Collard.

He stayed with Carlin in 2016, competing in a variety of F3-based championships, notably Euroformula Open, which saw him race at current F1 venues like Spa, Barcelona, Monza and the Red Bull Ring. He won four races and finished third again, while like Norris he also contested some British F3 rounds with Carlin, although they ran on different weekends.

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The point is those two years in Europe, at age 15-16 when any youngster is absorbing so much, have provided him with a crucial taste of European racing culture. And that has to give him a huge advantage if he does make the transition.

“It was awesome having Lando as a team-mate in 2015 at Carlin,” he said. “We still have stayed in touch a little bit, and I’ve gotten to see him at few races that I’ve gone to in F1. And for sure, my days with Carlin and being over here racing in Europe definitely helped prepare me. I got to see a lot of the European tracks, which is a big thing.

“And obviously, the way people discuss race cars is different all around the world, for sure. So having a little bit more of an insight, it helped me because I didn’t know what kilos and metres were before I came over here in 2015. So I had a little bit better understanding of when they say brake 10 metres later how far that actually is!”

In 2017 instead of moving up into either FIA F3 or what was then still GP3 he returned to the USA to run in Indy Lights, before graduating to IndyCars for the 2018 season finale. The following year he became the category’s youngest ever race winner when he triumphed in Austin in only his third ever start.

He’s now in his fourth full season in IndyCars, and at 22 he has run 57 races, winning seven of them. It’s a decent amount of experience of big, powerful cars and in a highly competitive environment. And you can argue that it’s comparable with the 71 F1 starts logged by Norris, who is just four and a half months older.

Along the way Herta has also had a taste of sportscar racing, contesting Daytona four times, and Sebring twice. All of that has fed into his personal database.

And like any son-of he’s absorbed knowledge from being around his father. Bryan Herta was a decent driver in his time, winning two Champcar races in 1998-’99 driving for Bobby Rahal, and subsequently logging two IndyCar victories during a four-year stint with Andretti Green that ran from 2004 to 2006. Latterly Herta Sr been both a team boss and driver coach, and he is thus the ideal guy to guide Colton on his way.

The youngster is smart enough to know that Portimao was all about playing the long game, and not trying to do eye-catching lap times on the first morning.

Colton Herta, IndyCar, Laguna Seca, 2019

Herta shot to prominence in his first full IndyCar season in 2019, winning at COTA and Laguna Seca (pictured)

IndyCar

“I mean, it’s hard to get in a race car and not drive it as fast as possible, or as fast as you possibly can,” he noted. “But really the goal, when I got over here, was to get acclimated, get up to speed, and really see what I could do in the race car.

“It was a car that was super special, that handled beautifully. I was able to make some set-up adjustments in the afternoon and get it more to my liking and stuff.

“It was a good test to kind of see what these cars are all about. And see the physicality, the differences to an IndyCar.”

Herta had some interesting comments on the comparison between what’s he’s used to and the McLaren.

“The torque is pretty incredible – even when you’re in low RPM, it still pulls” Colton Herta

“I think the first thing was letting off the pit lane speed limiter. And all the torque is pretty incredible. Even when you’re in such low RPM, it still pulls, so that was the biggest thing for me, the straightline speed, the acceleration and the braking.

“Obviously the cornering speeds were higher than what you would get in an IndyCar, but it didn’t stick out to me as much as how impressive the acceleration was, and how easy it was with all this horsepower to put the throttle down. That was the biggest thing.

“It is a completely different feel. Obviously, the feeling that you get from an IndyCar is way different, a lot because of the lack of power steering. And so the overall kickback and smoothness of the wheel doesn’t really transcribe to what you’d get in a Grand Prix car.

“So that was something to get used to, slowing down the hands. And obviously, the speed is a lot higher on the road courses. But overall, it was good to get a feeling and a taste of what these things can do.

Colton Herta testing McLaren F1 team, 2022

Herta is likely to take part in a FP session as one of McLaren’s designated drivers later this season

McLaren

“I felt comfortable right away. The biggest thing was putting a lap together. I felt like I got to the limit about midway through the day. But that was just separate corners being put together. The end of the second day I was pretty confident putting the laps together, low fuel and high fuel and everything in-between. But it took a while for sure.”

As is usual for such tests he was given plenty of opportunity to play around with settings, as well as different fuel loads.

“We were able to go through a lot of different things, a lot of different balance changes mechanically, aerodynamically, with the car. And then inside the car itself I got to play with all the tools, diff settings and all that sort of stuff.

“It was pretty cool to see the balance changes and what you can do with the car just inside the car, which is quite a bit more than what we’re able to do in the IndyCar. So yeah, it was awesome. If you have a problem in one corner, you can adjust it at the flick of a finger.”

The team didn’t make any lap times public, but obviously Herta was able to make his own comparisons with last year’s Grand Prix, within the constraints already mentioned.

“It’s hard to say where you rank up against these guys, when you’re doing a testing programme like this in a year-old car. But as far as how comfortable I got, I did get really comfortable in the car. I could feel the limit, maybe not the consistency. That would come with a few more dates, but I felt like I was close.

“This is a track that was so hard to understand that aspect, because of the winds and so many different factors. A little bit cooler today than it would have been on the race weekend. I was happy with the lap times. But again, we’re on a different little bit of a different tyre.

“And obviously, if you look back to the quotes from a lot of guys from a year ago, they would talk about how windy it gets here, and how much that can change the car corner to corner.

“So as far as lap times, it’s kind of hard to say, when they’re looking at the data, whether you’re fast or not.”

What’s next? Team principal Andreas Seidl insists no decisions have been made, beyond saying it would be good to give Herta as much mileage as possible.

It would be no surprise to see Herta invited to do more TPC running, just as Alpine has been giving Oscar Piastri regular mileage in old machinery, preferably at venues where he might one day race. Then there’s the carrot of the two FP1 sessions that McLaren is obliged to hand to a rookie driver at some stage this year.

Colton Herta testing McLaren F1 team, 2022

F1 is desperate for an American driver – Herta could be on the road to becoming that person

McLaren

FP1 is only an hour, and there’s enormous pressure not to make a mistake and compromise the weekend of the race driver. But it’s also a rare chance to sample the 2022 car.

“It would definitely be something that I’m open to,” said Herta. “As far as like the TPC actual test days, you can’t get better than that because you get the full track yourself, you get all this time inside the car that obviously in FP1 in 60 minutes or so you wouldn’t get.

“But yeah, it would be cool to have a taste of the 2022 cars, and see how they compare to this car. I’d be up for it.”

Don’t be too surprised to see Herta be invited to have a go at COTA, where he scored that famous first IndyCar win.