Oh, don’t you just love F1 silly season?
Over the summer break, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement for the end of this year, leaving an empty seat at the metaphorical F1 table.
A ripple effect surged and the silliness was in full swing with Alonso announcing his move to Aston Martin and the Oscar Piastri drama continuing to create waves.
Now, it’s current Andretti Autosport IndyCar driver Colton Herta causing a splash, as rumours of a possible move to F1 within the Alpha Tauri team become more and more concrete as days go on.
There’s only one problem – a Super Licence.
The 22-year-old Californian has previously been linked with McLaren, as the team announced in March he would be joining as a Development Driver. The driver seemed to impress in July when he made his maiden F1 car debut at a testing session in Portimao.
It seems as though Alpha Tauri have their eyes firmly set on the youngest ever IndyCar winner, with Helmut Marko admitting that “an agreement has already been reached with all parties for Colton Herta to join if he is granted a Super Licence by the FIA”, as reported by Chris Medland.
This would suggest that the sister Red Bull team is willing to let Pierre Gasly out of his current contract to go to Alpine if the FIA twists their current rules to let Colton come aboard.
To qualify for an FIA Racing Super Licence an applicant must meet the requirements of the FIA’s International Sporting Code, which includes picking up a total of at least 40 points over a previous three series. The trouble for Herta is, that the points given out for the IndyCar series are not as fulfilling as others, leaving Colton short of competing in Formula 1.
However, there are calls for the FIA to give the young driver an exception, arguing that he is more than experienced enough to compete in the pinnacle of motorsport, with 7 wins, 11 podiums, and 9 poles in his four-year IndyCar career.
Others, of course, disagree. Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says the series should respect the Super Licence Points system and not grant the driver a free pass. He told Autosport:
“The sport needs to respect the rules and, of course, American drivers or other drivers are very important. If he is eligible to come in F1 because he has the points, it’s fantastic news.”
“But there is a ladder to follow, there is a protocol to respect, and that is the situation. So it’s really what I believe is right to do.”
F1 team bosses Frederic Vasseur and Guenther Steiner voiced similar opinions, echoing that the rules should be respected but were not opposed to discussions regarding changing them. McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl had a different view and believes Herta should be given a chance, “the IndyCar championship is a high-quality, very competitive championship with top drivers” Seidl said, “therefore, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t make sure that competitive drivers over there cannot switch to Formula 1.”