In less than a year, the Cadillac F1 team will make its on-track debut. While General Motors has shown interest in pairing an experienced driver with young American talent, the team has yet to confirm its driver lineup. Colton Herta of IndyCar has been floated as a potential prospect, but the young driver recently stated that he’s not sure he’d take the chance to drive for Caddy if asked.
According to a report from Castanet, Herta expressed hesitation when asked about joining the Cadillac F1 team next year. He’s committed to his efforts in IndyCar and genuinely enjoys the series and his current team, and he’s not comfortable leaving them behind – at least, not yet.
“I’d be leaving a great group of people I really like working with, so it’s not a sure thing for me,” Herta said during the first day of the IndyCar season on February 28th, 2025.”It’s not an easy decision, just to be like, ‘Alright, see you guys later.’ I’d be giving up an opportunity of maybe never working with these people again.”
Herta also said he was sick of being asked about a future in F1, and would rather focus on adding an Indy 500 win to his resume, plus the overall IndyCar championship this year. Planning for F1, he said, would be a distraction this year, and that’s just not a risk he’s willing to take.
Dan Towriss, who assumed control of the Cadillac F1 team after Michael Andretti’s decision to step down, said he can’t fault Herta for his perspective.
“I think really what that shows you is how focused he is and how present he is in IndyCar, and so I love that,” Towriss said. “That’s exactly the answer that I would want Colton to give me. We are locked in on the goals for this year. He finished second last year and he knows exactly what he could have changed last year, which races he would have changed. So a few moves away from that top spot.”
As a reminder, the Cadillac F1 team will become a full works outfit once GM begins manufacturing its own power units in 2028. Until then, however, the team will utilize Ferrari power units.
Comments
I wouldn’t sign up. We all know GM will stay committed to its F1 effort for about five minutes then bail. Herta would be a fool to leave Indy Car for the uncertainty of that.
Cadillac in F1 is a joke given that they’re an all EV brand and their supposed race car will use Ferrari engines. They’re saying that’s just to get started but the team likely won’t last long enough to ever have their own engine and, again, it makes no sense to even build a “Cadillac” F1 engine when Cadillac will only be selling EVs to the public going forward.
As an F1 fan, for years I wanted a Cadillac team to take on M-B, BMW, Ferrari, etc. at some of the worlds most glamorous locales and most challenging tracks. That dream never came true and now, it seems it’s just too late.
It wouldn’t matter how long GM’s commitment is. A chance to race in F1 doesn’t come every day. It’s an opportunity to see how you stack up against the best drivers in the world. He’s saying all the right things, as he should, since he doesn’t have an official offer to join Cadillac yet.
In F1, you don’t really “stack up against the best drivers in the World” since it’s mostly the car that wins and only partly the driver. If you look at the History of the formula 1 series, you’d see that. Indy car races, since they made the big change to identical chassis, can be won by about 10 different drivers, but in F1 it’s who has the latest and greatest tech on their cars/engines while drivers play a smaller percentage of the win.
Well I wouldn’t go as far as calling their effort a joke but it does appear to contradict their “all-in” on EV only vehicle plans. They’re currently spending millions to support the hybrid IMSA and WEC cars and will spend gazillions more developing an F1 hybrid powerplant but (as you said) they will not be producing any hybrid (or ICE) vehicles for the public. So the “race on Sunday, sell on Monday” tradition falls flat. Presumably the F1 effort is solely to boost the worldwide “brand” image in an attempt to dominate the luxury EV market. Well, best of luck to them and I will continue to support their racing efforts but pretty sure they will be not be offering any “cars” in the future that will find a place in my driveway and that’s coming from a long past and present Caddy owner.
PS: Carlton, stay focused on INDY. You’re a hell of a driver with a long career ahead of you no matter what happens in F1.
“Colton Herta Isn’t Sure He Wants To Drive For Cadillac F1 Team”. No? Well I do. Throw me the keys.
Embarrassing.