Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel says Colton Herta “maybe underestimated the difference” between Formula 1’s feeder series and IndyCar, with the 26-year-old’s bold career move so far unsuccessful.
Herta was a frontrunner in America’s premier single-seater series for seven years but decided to move back to Europe in 2026 – having competed in junior formulae across the pond in 2015 and 2016 – in order to chase his F1 dream.
Having landed a test and development role with Cadillac’s nascent F1 team, Herta was tasked with mastering F2 in order to prepare for a potential graduation to the world championship.
However, his maiden season in F1’s feeder series has ended up well below expectations. The Californian lies 19th in the drivers’ standings, and his performance level has actually worsened throughout the year – which he has been at a loss to explain – with several crashes compounding his issues.
“It’s been more difficult than what I thought it was going to be, because Colton is a very strong driver, there’s no doubt about that,” Michel commented.
“He and we maybe underestimated the difference of working environment that we had compared to IndyCar teams, but I don’t think it has to be settled as an example, and I really hope that he’s going to finish the season in a high. We’re still hoping for that.”
Colton Herta, Hitech
Photo by: Getty Images
The Frenchman pointed to F2’s tricky weekend format, with just a 45-minute free practice session and a 30-minute qualifying round ahead of the two races, as a potential cause for Herta’s struggle.
“He had some good races as well, he had more difficulties in quali, and maybe also that’s one of the limits that we were having, because in 30 minutes you come up with the right timing [for your runs], you have two flying laps on sets of tyres on which you have very limited track time,” Michel said.
“That’s also the way we prepare drivers for Formula 1, because you know in Formula 1 that you have limited track time as well.
“So, probably he struggled for that and he suffered from that a bit more than what he expected. Now I really hope, sincerely, that he’s going to finish the season on a high – he deserves it.”
Herta himself was unsure he was going to get any more races to finish the season given the Qatar and Abu Dhabi rounds are known to be at threat due to the Iran war, however Michel reaffirmed these events “will not be cancelled”.
As for Herta’s future, the Hitech driver made it clear that he had “no interest” in a sophomore F2 season, but he won’t rule it out in case that’s what Cadillac wants for him.
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