Andretti: Herta a great candidate for Cadillac F1

Andretti remained on the Cadillac F1 board as an advisor after his son Michael, who led the outfit's early F1 project, stepped aside at a time when Formula One Management (FOM) was still blocking the Andretti/GM application despite a green light from the FIA, F1's governing body.

With the Andretti name out of the picture, Cadillac took over, and FOM granted them the approval to become the 11th F1 team, the second US team alongside Haas F1.

Whether it was Cadillac F1 or Andretti Cadillac F1, the incoming US F1 team has made it clear that they aim to have an American driver within their ranks alongside an experienced F1 driver.

When it comes to the experienced F1 driver, recent reports have linked Sergio Perez to the Cadillac F1 team after the Mexican was let go by Red Bull following a disappointing 2024 season.

But with regards to the American F1 driver, Herta's name has always been out there as a potential candidate to join the top flight, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown even granting the IndyCar star a test run in an F1 car.

Now Andretti has given the Herta-to-F1 reports momentum. He said: "Looking back at the way Colton has trained from the very beginning of his young career—as you know, he started in Formula 3 and so on with the likes of Lando Norris, and he's done some F1 testing.

"Zak Brown gave him a good test at Portimao in Portugal. You should see the report that we got from [team principal] Andrea Stella. And Andrea is an individual that says it like it is.

"So again, [Herta's] a great candidate. And all of this has to be proven, of course, but going in, he's a good bet, in my opinion," the 1978 F1 champion maintained.

Herta drives for Andretti in IndyCar and missed out on the 2024 title to Alex Palou, finishing as runner-up, but Andretti explained: "Some mistakes were made last year that cost him a championship, and unfortunately that happens.

"Sometimes you put too much pressure on yourself, and then you make that mistake," he pointed out. "But when you look at the ingredients that were there, you had the ingredients of a champion. But for just one of those instances, he could have been champion. So, when you look back and assess all those things, you've got to feel pretty good."

The 84-year-old was quizzed regarding Herta's consistent form in 2024; he responded: "He's also very versatile. He's good in every area, like the ovals, short ovals, superspeedway. He's competitive everywhere, so he's definitely championship material."

As the 2025 F1 season looms, Cadillac should be in overdrive preparing for their maiden F1 season in 2026, and a finalized driver lineup would be an important part of the puzzle, so when will that be finalized?

"Everything is ongoing right now," Andretti revealed. "You think about those things every day, and that's going to become official probably mid-year.

"We are obviously looking at every aspect of every opportunity that's there. It's clear that the objectives are to have at least one American driver and then another experienced driver alongside and start like that," he concluded.