Andretti: USA would go crazy for Colton Herta in F1

Speaking to Motorsport Network after Herta dominated the Saint Petersburg Indycar race on Sunday after qualifying on pole, the 21-year-old's fourth victory in the American open-wheeler series, Andretti said: “I’m pushing like hell for Colton. You’ve got to remember, Colton went to race in England when he was 15 years old, all by himself.

"That’s always been his objective [to get to F1] but he’s very quiet and unassuming, he’s not pushy, but I see a quality there – a Formula 1 quality. That’s from the word go – he’s a great qualifier, and that’s really important, from what I’ve seen the races he won at COTA and Laguna Seca, both races were won by raw speed.

"Not strategy, not fuel mileage, and he’s winning against the best IndyCar has to offer – Scott Dixon and Will Power – they were on him from the start, and he didn’t put a wheel wrong, all the pitstops were perfect.

"I’m really a fan of Colton, I’m in his pit during the races, and he’s just very calm and collected. I love that. He adapts to everything, that’s a big key to everything.

"You hear people complaining – ‘it’s too slippery, it’s too windy’ – he just gets on with it, it’s the same for everybody, just find a freakin’ way to do it! And that’s what he does every time. I like that.”

But Andretti, who himself made 13 Grand Prix starts as Ayrton Senna's teammate at McLaren in 1993, knows that for the American F1 fanbase to boom a homegrown talent needs to have an opportunity with a top team.

“We’d need the American driver with a top team, not in the back with no chance,” Andretti explained. “If you could get an American driver in F1, producing results, you’d have America going crazy for F1.

“Mercedes sells a lot of cars here, it’s a huge market, imagine what they could do with him? It would juice up the TV ratings too. But it has to happen within a year or so, or they’ll consider him to be too old.

“He’s 21, so it’s a great time, and I realise the lack of testing and licence restrictions. But, I mean, that Russian kid [Nikita Mazepin] gets a superlicence, and the guy who’s at the very top level over here can’t get one? There’s something wrong there!” said the team boss of Herta.

Fellow American, McLaren boss Zak Brown is keen to see his country host more than one Grand Prix, a sentiment shared by Andretti who added: “I think America is probably the only country on the planet that can really properly host two F1 races.

“Quite honestly, I think F1’s fanbase in America is somewhat understated, but it needs to be perked up – and the only thing it’s really missing is an American driver," insisted Andretti.