Colton Herta has no qualms in acknowledging that the career path he is undertaking this year is unusual.
Herta, who won nine races in the IndyCar Series and was the runner-up for the title in 2024, will drive for Wayne Taylor Racing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.
In addition, he will continue his attempt to become a Formula 1 driver. He quit IndyCar at the end of last season to compete in Formula 2 with Hitech Grand Prix.
He needs to finish in the top eight in the series to obtain enough points on his Super License, issued by the F.I.A., the sport’s governing body, to allow him to race in Formula 1.
Given what Herta has achieved in IndyCar and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, he knows that competing in a junior series this year is surprising.
“It is a bizarre career path, I won’t deny that,” Herta said in an interview in December. “It’s very rare. I think a lot of people are going to be watching it with interest. From my side of things, it’s pretty clear I want to get to Formula 1. I see this as my best shot at doing it.”
In September, Herta was named as a test driver for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team. Supported by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, the team will make its debut in the series this year, expanding the grid for the first time since 2016 to 11 teams.
Herta will support the drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez in a test program designed to improve the car during the season. In tandem, the 14-event Formula 2 series will help him learn the circuits used in Formula 1 and how to handle the tires supplied by Pirelli.
Herta knew what he was signing up for when he agreed to join Formula 2, but only after talking with his father, Bryan, a former driver.
“At first, when it was brought up, I was like, ‘No, I’m a professional racing driver. I don’t want to go into a junior category at 25 years old,’” he said. “Then I talked about it with my dad, trying to see the positives. Once we talked it through, it was an easy decision to make.
“I’m not worried about what people think about this career path, if it’s positive or negative. That’s solely because this is what I want to do. I want to get to Formula 1. At this point, this is my best chance, and I’ve got to fight for it. I think that’s what this move is showing.”
Given his name and reputation, Herta knows there will be a target on his back and that finishing in the top eight will not be easy, particularly with the drivers around him trying to get into Formula 1.
“Just because it’s a junior series and they’re young, I think they’re probably the hungriest drivers out there trying to make it,” he said. “They’re extremely quick and very refined, especially for how young they are.
“I’m not going into this at all with an ego and thinking that what I’ve done in the past means anything here. I’m kind of relearning how to ride a bike a little with all this stuff.”
Wayne Taylor, the team principal of Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing, said he was not surprised when he learned of the path that Herta had taken to reach Formula 1.
“In my belief, you don’t go from NASCAR, sports cars or IndyCar and think you can go and jump into a Formula 1 car and compete against those guys,” Taylor said in an interview in December.
“I’m not saying American drivers are not as good, but the Europeans work harder from the standpoint that from day one in their careers, they only see Formula 1. They go through all the categories — Formula Ford, Formula 2000, Formula 3, Formula 2 — and you get to learn the circuits, so I see it as a really smart move. It’s not a step backwards.”
First for Herta and Taylor, reunited after working together in 2024, is Daytona this week and then Sebring in March, which will follow Herta’s debut in Formula 2 earlier that month in Melbourne, Australia.
Two years ago, when Wayne Taylor Racing was partnered with Andretti Autosport and powered by Acura, Herta finished third in Daytona and won at Sebring. For the latter, he was partnered with the drivers Jordan Taylor and Louis Delétraz.
Taylor said Herta would have driven for his team last year, but switching to Cadillac prevented the move because Herta had signed with Oreca. Rejoining forces this year was an easy decision, with Taylor and Delétraz again the co-drivers.
“Not only is he really good, but he gets on well with his teammates and the team,” Taylor said of Herta. “He is extremely easy to work with. He never gets flustered or freaks out about anything.
“I’ll put it to you this way. The best thing about a driver is when you don’t even have to think about them over a weekend because you know when you slot any one of them in, they will do a job for you. With Colton, we can slot him in and he will do what we ask him to do. He’s ideal.”
Herta said Wayne Taylor Racing was “a team I love working with.” The fact that the team is affiliated with Cadillac, which is overseeing his Formula 1 ambition, is pure chance.
“It’s just worked out that it is Cadillac,” he said. “I’ve driven for Wayne before with a different manufacturer, and it’s a great team. Everyone’s extremely smart and diligent.”
Herta has won Daytona twice, in his debut in 2019 in the G.T.L.M. class with BMW, and in 2022 in the LMP2 category with Oreca. Winning the race overall in the G.T.P. division would be a career milestone.
“I love that I was able to win in G.T.L.M. and LMP2,” he said. “It was amazing, but to win it outright in the fastest category, it adds another element because you beat everybody. It’s definitely a huge goal of mine and would really be a highlight of my career.”
Taylor is hoping to return the team to its winning ways after a four-year drought. With Cadillac, there were three wins in four events from 2017. Another victory came after a switch to Acura in 2021 before finishing runner-up with the manufacturer the next two years and third in 2024.
Reuniting with Cadillac last season proved to be a bitter disappointment, with one car finishing fifth and the other retiring after an accident.
“Last year’s Daytona was probably the worst I’ve experienced,” Taylor said. Just before the race, his cars had 95 pounds of weight added as part of the Balance of Performance, a set of rules designed to equalize cars in an event.
“You can’t promise anybody a win in any sport,” he said. “What I can do is guarantee you that I will race for the win. Last year, I didn’t go in feeling like that.”
After a year of working with the car, this year is very different. “I’m always excited about Daytona,” he said. “Last year was the first time I wasn’t, and it wasn’t good. This time, I am.”
As for Herta’s chances at Daytona this year, the driver said the collaboration between Wayne Taylor Racing and Cadillac was built for success.
“It is a great recipe that we’ve got brewing here,” he said. “It’s just a matter of can we keep our nose clean? Can we put everything down and just get our heads down and work? I think time will tell on that front.
“But as far as going into a race, I feel as confident as ever.”
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