According to Autosport, Colton Herta is heading to the Brazil Grand Prix to secure the single remaining FIA superlicence point he needs to race in Formula 1, following a chaotic miscount of his previous results. The Cadillac test driver previously thought he had crossed the 40-point threshold last week in Mexico, only to discover he was still short by one point due to confusion over his past IndyCar achievements.
To fix the mistake, Cadillac is putting the Californian into Sergio Perez's car for a sixth Friday practice session of the season. While teams only have a mandatory four-session rookie requirement per year, the squad is pushing hard to get the 26-year-old his full credentials. That official licence will leave the team free to weigh their 2027 driver choices, keeping their options open between sticking with incumbent Valtteri Bottas for another year or handing Herta his debut.
His growth in the car across his sessions has been impressive, and his feedback remains invaluable to our 2027 development programme,
Herta's hunt for the credential hit a frustrating roadblock earlier when his car broke down in Monza, preventing him from clearing the 100-kilometre distance needed for the session to count for a point. He will comfortably clear that requirement at the Interlagos circuit, where completing 24 laps will do the trick.
"I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the MAC-26 for another FP1 session," Herta said. "Interlagos is such an iconic, historic track, and driving an F1 car around there is going to be an awesome experience."
Cadillac arrives at the venue after a brutal weekend in Mexico that saw Bottas suffer a high-speed crash during the race brought on by a sudden front-left suspension failure. Team principal Marcin Budkowski confirmed that investigations are complete and they have "implemented mitigations" to make sure it does not happen again.
"His growth in the car across his sessions has been impressive, and his feedback remains invaluable to our 2027 development programme," Budkowski said of Herta's upcoming appearance, which will see him step in for Checo once more on Friday morning.
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