Colton Herta admits IndyCar absence “hurts a bit” during F2 season

TL;DR

Colton Herta has decided not to attempt a same-day run at the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula 2 race in Montreal. He will prioritize his F2 season over the Indy 500 despite the close proximity of the two venues.

Key points

Colton Herta prioritizes F2 over Indy 500
Herta is a test driver for Cadillac's F1 team
Indy 500 and F2 Montreal are less than 500 miles apart
F2 schedule was affected by the Middle East conflict
Herta rules out same-day racing

Mentioned in this story

Colton HertaCadillacMontrealIndianapolis Motor Speedway

Indy 500Formula 2

Motorsport photo

Colton Herta has ruled out attempting to run the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula 2 round at Montreal on the same day.

The California native, who is a test driver for Cadillac’s Formula 1 team and currently running his maiden season in F2, was previously rumored to contest this year’s Indy 500 with Andretti Global, his IndyCar team for six years (2020-25). Although the option existed prior to the 2026 season, the Middle East conflict put a pause on the F2 schedule before the series opted to pivot by adding rounds and accompanying F1 at Miami and Montreal.

Although Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are less than 500 miles apart, roughly a two-hour plane ride, Herta will prioritize F2 and has ruled out a unique version of a same-day double.

"I had visions in my head of being able to do that, but I kind of always knew it wasn't going to be able to do legitimately," said Herta, 26. "As far as the Indy side, you miss Carb Day, which is a very important day.

"And then even if it were to work, I think it'd be difficult because for me F2 is the clear priority and Cadillac is the clear priority for me this year. That was just kind of be a little bit of an added bonus when I had a bit of time off, but yeah, it wasn't meant to be this year."

Colton Herta, Hitech

Herta managed to score in the points in his debut weekend in F2 with a seventh-place finish in Australia. Although that momentum was temporarily halted due to the Middle East conflict leading to the cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, he’s happy not having to wait two months to get back into the car. "I love it," Herta said. "I think for me at the beginning of the year, I thought my only North America race is going to be the Indy 500, so it's cool to have two F2 races and two places that look like really interesting tracks, very enjoyable tracks, so yeah, I didn't have it on my bingo card, but I'm glad that I get to be in Miami and Montreal for the races."