“I Hate to Lose Him for What He Could Be Here” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Doesn’t Want Colton Herta to Complete F1 Switch

Former NASCAR driver and Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his concerns about IndyCar sensation Colton Herta getting a shot in Formula One and representing the United States in the European sport.

During the podcast, Junior stated, “It’s exciting to think about a guy like Colton getting that opportunity but my concern immediately goes to he’s not gonna get the opportunity.”

“He’s not gonna get a fair shot. And then I hate to lose him for what he could be here.”

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Conor Daly reiterated Dale Earnhardt’s point and stated that even though he is a great driver, he still needs to be put in a race environment to test him out properly, not just hand him a car to drive around in an empty circuit for testing purposes.

IndyCar driver Colton Herta tests a McLaren Formula One car at Portimao Circuit

Colton Herta got an incredible chance back in July, to drive a McLaren MCL35M used during the 2021 Formula One season, for testing purposes.

Herta had the opportunity to test for the team from July 11-13, during which he has proved to be an impressive talent. He shared the seat with McLaren’s development driver, Will Stevens. Andreas Seidl, who is the team principal of McLaren Racing, stated, “Colton is a proven talent in IndyCar and we will be interested to see how he adapts to a Formula 1 car.”

However, the dream for Herta to drive in Formula One might not come with McLaren as Oscar Piastri was recently announced to take over current driver Daniel Ricciardo’s seat.

As per the latest reports, Helmut Marko stated that they were considering placing Herta in Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri seat, but the only thing holding them back was the approval from the FIA. Gasly himself has been speculated to be moving into Alpine for the next season.

Watch This Story: F1 Stars Vettel, Schumacher Lost to Jimmie Johnson, Colton Herta.

Moreover, there have been talks of Andretti trying to get themselves into the world of Formula One. Even though that may seem to be a far-fetched dream.