Colton Herta's gamble on a Formula 2 switch has turned into an absolute crucible. As Autosport reports, the Cadillac protege is currently sitting 19th in the drivers' standings with just 26 points to his name, his best result a fifth place in the Barcelona sprint race after starting third on the reversed grid. It is a stunning drop for a former IndyCar frontrunner.
The numbers behind the slump are stark. Herta qualified 14th on average across the first five rounds with a 0.848s deficit to the top, but things only worsened as he averaged 18th in the next eight qualifying sessions with a mean gap of 1.088s. That trend exploded in Baku, where his deficit reached 2.484s in Q1 and 3.091s in Q2. Crashes have piled up too, including three across the Monza and Madrid rounds.
My focus is still on getting to F1, and I still think I have a chance of that in these next two years,
“It's unclear why we can't put a weekend together from start to finish and it be completely strong. I think it's just a head-scratcher to be qualified three seconds off here,” Herta admitted. Winter testing had offered genuine hope when he was joint 11th-fastest and 0.574s down on pacesetter Rafael Camara. Yet those private testing gains have completely vanished on race weekends.
The struggles have all but shattered Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss's expectation of a top-10 championship finish. While Cadillac initially framed the F2 campaign as a stepping stone to a future F1 seat for their test and development driver, Herta noted he has received no direct feedback from the team regarding his feeder series performances. He is currently in talks with the F1 outfit regarding 2027 plans, though a second season in F2 is hardly an attractive prospect.
“I said ‘I don't have an interest’,” Herta stated. “This year, I think if there was clear progression and whatnot, it would be more interesting to return, but there's zero progression.”
Curiously, the disconnect seems strictly confined to F2 machinery. Herta points to strong simulator work and a Testing of Previous Cars day on a Monday where his pace was impressive. Yet he remains entirely unsure of what his 2027 will look like, whether it involves a reserve or test role in Formula 1, or potentially looking back at IndyCar depending on Cadillac's master plan.
“My focus is still on getting to F1, and I still think I have a chance of that in these next two years,” Herta said. For now, he prepares to push through the remainder of the season with Qatar and Abu Dhabi under threat due to the Iran war, hoping to salvage whatever is left of a brutal year.
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