How American driver Herta is climbing the ladder to Cadillac F1

Ex-IndyCar America driver Colton Herta is competing for the Hitech Grand Prix team in Formula Two in 2026.

“Obviously, there’s a bit of me that hurts because you can't do the 500 now, but (F2) is taking the forefront of what I'm doing,” Herta told Racer.com last month. He likely would have raced for Andretti Global — owned by TWG Motorsports that is also Cadillac F1’s partner — at Indy.

In addition to his racing duties with F2, Herta is Cadillac F1’s test driver and will have four opportunities this year to compare his skills against veterans Pérez and Bottas aboard the 1,000-plus-horsepower rocket. The first is the June 12 practice session at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

“I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the Cadillac Formula 1 team car for the first time,” Herta told F1.com. “I am looking forward to working closely with the team in a full Grand Prix environment and am fully focused on learning from every appearance. I hope I can contribute to the overall race weekend and help the team, Checo (Sergio) and Valtteri as much as possible.”

Said Lowdon: “Completing all four of our young driver F1 sessions is a natural next step in his test driver role, and I look forward to seeing what he can bring in terms of development and focus.”

Cadillac chose 36-year-old veterans Pérez and Bottas for its launch year given their extensive F1 experience. The strategy seemed to be fortuitous as the 2026 season’s new 50/50 hybrid powertrain has proved a handful for drivers and teams.

Cadillac has been a backmarker working to get up to speed — not only with a new team, but with the complex drive system made by Ferrari (Cadillac’s own power unit won’t be ready until 2029) that has to be managed for battery regeneration over the course of a lap.

Drivers have ridiculed the new system as resembling the chasing of energy icons in Nintendo’s Mario Kart.

“As a young boy, I played a lot of Mario Kart, so I have a lot of preparation going on this new era,” Pérez said with a laugh Thursday.

Further up the pack, the hybrid system’s need to harvest energy mid-lap has caused safety concerns with big closing speeds between cars — including a wild, 190-mph crash at the Suzuka Grand Prix involving Oliver Bearman’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Haas F1 car.

Hitech's U.S. driver Colton Herta runs wide after a crash during the Formula 2 practice session at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 6, 2026.

“What happened in Suzuka was very, very scary, and from a safety point of view, there was urgency to change things,” said Pérez. “It's very good to see that we are open for changes in all areas.”

While Pérez and Bottas come to terms with the new tech, Herta’s F2 car is powered by a more traditional, 620-horse, 3.4-liter turbo V-6 engine common to all cars in the field. Revered as one of the fastest drivers in IndyCar, the Californian has been able to focus on adapting to a new team and series.

“It's very different," said Herta. "Even when I'm going into the Formula 1 paddock, I've worked with quite a few guys either on the Honda side or the IndyCar team side . . . but there's still a lot of people, almost everybody, that I don't know. Obviously you see them on TV, or you hear about them in press releases or media news and whatnot, but it's all very fresh to me.”

Herta’s F1 debut is uncertain depending on how he performs in F2. For now, he’s focused on putting on a show in front of fellow Yankees.

“(Miami) is huge because we get to come Stateside,” he told Racer.com. “It’s special for me. It's something that I did not see coming this year. So for that aspect, I feel very lucky.”

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: How American driver Herta is climbing the ladder to Cadillac F1