McLaren Prodigy Falls Prey to Colton Herta’s Fate as FIA’s Stubbornness Shatters Another F1 Dream

“The FIA confirms that the driver does not have the required number of points to be granted an FIA Super Licence.” This is the last thing the driver in question would want to hear when Formula 1 teams are genuinely interested in them. Unfortunately for American sensation Colton Herta, he’s had to hear this quite often over the past few years. Currently racing for Andretti Autosport in IndyCar, the 23-year-old has shown promise several times. Just not enough to convince the FIA to give him a Super Licence.

For optimists, the takeaway from that would be F1 teams having shown interest in signing him. Pessimists, though, would pose the question: Why doesn’t he have enough Licence points? Considering he’s 23, the longer he takes to accumulate Licence points, the fewer his chances of an F1 entry. What’s more? A McLaren prodigy might follow in his footsteps.

McLaren F1 could lose their wonder-kid after the Colton Herta conundrum

After joining IndyCar in 2019 and a career-best championship finish of third in 2020, Herta has 32 Super Licence points. Just 8 short of the required 40 has been an obstacle for his F1 dream since 2021. That year, Andretti’s attempted purchase of Sauber led to Alfa Romeo’s interest in signing Herta for 2022. When the deal fell through, so did Herta’s hopes. In 2022, McLaren signed him as a development driver, and he even drove a test at Portimao in July. Despite impressing Zak Brown & Co., his Super Licence points again caused a problem.

Most recently, AlphaTauri wanted to sign him for 2023 as a replacement for Pierre Gasly. When Red Bull appealed to the FIA to consider his Super Licence situation, its resounding answer was “No.” Considering a driver needs to have 40 points to even be a reserve driver, Herta’s chances there aren’t great, either. Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward is facing the same problem. Following McLaren’s contract controversy with reserve driver Alex Palou, the Spanish driver said, “I’m not going to go to any F1 races.” 

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With how much promise O’Ward has shown, the 24-year-old would be the ideal replacement. The problem is that he can’t. As per The Race, “Pato O’Ward will be in the car for an FP1 later this year and attending the F1 races in his native Mexico, Austin, Vegas and Abu Dhabi.” But because he’s short of Super Licence points, there’s no way he can be McLaren’s reserve driver. The FIA’s Super Licence system is not helping O’Ward or Herta’s case to make their F1 dream come true. Even so, could Herta still have hope for 2026?

Could Andretti be Colton Herta’s ticket to F1?

In recent light of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem opening the door for new teams joining F1, Andretti Global has started gearing up to be the first. With its recent partnership with General Motors and Cadillac, Michael Andretti is building a true American bid. As part of this “true American bid,” he wants an all-American lineup when Andretti’s finally given the green light. 

With F1’s new regulations taking effect in 2026, no team can join the sport before that. Herta’s contracted with Andretti until 2027. That gives him two more years to accumulate the required 40 Super Licence points. Considering his talent and performances with Andretti whenever he got the opportunity, the Californian would be one of the best options for the Andretti-Cadillac F1 team. 

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Do you think Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward’s F1 dream has really been shattered? Or could options like Andretti-Cadillac give them the opportunity they so desperately want?