F1: Herta joins Cadillac as take a look at driver

Cadillac has introduced that nine-time IndyCar race winner Colton Herta as a take a look at driver because the crew prepares to hitch the F1 grid for the 2026 season.

For Herta, 25, the 2026 season will mark a return to the European racing ranks, because the second-generation racer – the son of IndyCar and ChampCar driver Bryan Herta – made his European racing debut in 2015. Over a two-year interval, he secured 4 victories, six podium finishes and 5 pole positions within the Euroformula Open Championship and went on to compete in six British F3 occasions, incomes three podium finishes, together with a victory at Manufacturers Hatch, earlier than returning to America in 2017.

Coming off his seventh IndyCar season, Herta has recorded 9 wins, 16 pole positions, and led over 1,000 laps in his 116 profession begins. He additionally holds the title of youngest driver to win an IndyCar collection race and pole place, a feat he achieved in 2019 on the Circuit of the Americas. Along with a profitable IndyCar profession, Herta has scored a number of IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship class wins on the Rolex 24 at Daytona (2019 and 2022) and an general win on the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2024.

Transitioning into a brand new position inside TWG Motorsports, Herta is the primary take a look at driver named by Cadillac following the announcement final month that Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will kind the crew’s line-up throughout its debut season. Bulletins on Herta’s 2026 programme will likely be made sooner or later.

“I am extremely excited to be becoming a member of the Cadillac crew as a take a look at driver,” mentioned Herta. “It is a dream alternative, and one I have been working in the direction of for a very long time. To be a part of Cadillac F1’s entry at such a pivotal time is one thing I could not move up.

“My dream has all the time been to race in Formulation 1, and I see this transfer as an enormous step in the direction of that objective. For now, my focus is on giving all the pieces I can to Cadillac F1, serving to construct a aggressive crew.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Colton as a take a look at driver,” added Graeme Lowdon. “He’s an exceptionally gifted racer with confirmed velocity, race craft, and maturity properly past his years. His expertise in top-level American motorsport as a part of the TWG Motorsport household makes him a really perfect match for this position, and he’ll convey invaluable and contemporary perception, perspective, and vitality to our crew as we proceed to construct for the longer term.

“Having an American driver be part of an American Formulation 1 crew is a massively vital second, not just for our Group, however for American motorsport as an entire. Colton represents the eagerness, ambition, and aggressive spirit that outline the Cadillac crew, and we’re proud to have him carry the American flag with us on the world stage.”