Nine-time IndyCar race winner Colton Herta will compete in Formula 2, the Formula 1 feeder series, next year while also serving as test driver for Cadillac for their debut in the top flight.
Dan Towriss, chief executive of Formula 1's newest team - Cadillac - and one backed by General Motors, told the 'Off Track with Hinch and Rossi' podcast that 25-year-old Herta was leaving IndyCar to pursue his F1 dream.
Formula 2 is the feeder series for Formula 1 and offers the chance for Herta to secure the super-licence points he needs. It remains a junior series, however, unlike IndyCar, whose signature Indianapolis 500 ranks among the world's great challenges, and Herta will be leaving a top seat for an uncertain future.
Towriss said: "We’ve been fortunate to keep Colton at Andretti in the IndyCar team, and so now he’s going to pursue his dream in Formula 1, nd to do that, he’s going to take a pretty big risk. He’s leaving IndyCar, he’s not going directly to Formula 1."
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"There is a test and development driver role and he’s going to be going into Formula 2. He’s got to learn tracks, he’s got to learn tyres... I couldn’t be more proud of Colton, to be willing to take that risk to pursue his dream," added Towriss.
Cadillac announced Herta's new role in a statement on Wednesday. The team have already signed Formula 1 veterans Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez as next year's lineup.
F1 drivers at Monza, which hosts Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, said the American was already well-equipped to race against them.
"IndyCar I think, is one of the toughest series in the world," McLaren's Lando Norris, who came through Formula 2, told reporters at Monza. "I think it's an incredibly tough car to drive ... the level of all those drivers is incredibly high."
Norris suggested IndyCar drivers should score more licence points than they are currently awarded for their results in the championship.
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