Colton Herta says representing Cadillac on his grand prix weekend debut in Barcelona “meant a lot to me”, as he revelled in the speed of a current Formula 1 car.
On Friday, Herta took over Sergio Perez‘s car for the first of four planned FP1 outings. F1 teams are required to hand four first free practice sessions per year to a rookie, two per car, with Herta slated to conduct all four as he is prepared by Cadillac for a potential F1 career.
At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Herta completed 27 laps in Perez’s Cadillac MAC-26, setting the 21st and slowest time of all runners. But rather than chasing laptimes, Herta’s role was to leave the car in a good set-up window for Perez for the remainder of the weekend. As Cadillac’s F1 test driver, the outing also gave the Californian a precious opportunity to gain current F1 car experience, following a series of sessions at GM’s simulator facility in Charlotte.
“It was very enjoyable,” Herta said. “I think we got done what we wanted to get done, which was good. Hopefully I provided some good data for them to look at, and just from a more personal side it’s very enjoyable to be a part of something like that, an official session. It means a lot to me, especially having a Cadillac badge as an American. I definitely felt very proud today.”
When asked by Motorsport.com how key Barcelona’s outing was in his overall development this year, Herta replied: “Having an understanding of how things work is the most important thing. Going through what they go through in the pre-event meetings. And then most importantly, seeing how the session plays out, what they’re trying to achieve during the session.
“It’s all new and it’s quite different to what I’ve done in the past. There’s so much more to look at. So many more sensors, so much more development race to race, there’s a lot of things happening. So that’s all very new to me, and something that I’m trying to pick up on as fast as possible.”
Colton Herta, Cadillac F1 Team
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
Herta has conducted sporadic F1 testing in the past, but said the vicious speeds of an F1 car were still surprising.
“I think whenever anybody talks about a Formula 1 car in a push lap, it’s just the outright speed of it that’s the most impressive part,” he said. “The braking, the acceleration, the cornering. Every part of it is just faster than anything I’ve done, so it’s very impressive.”
Herta is dovetailing his test duties with a drive in Formula 2 with Hitech. The 26-year-old went into the Barcelona weekend in 13th place, having scored points on three occasions while adapting to the European racing scene.
“I just need to continue improving,” he said. “Obviously, as a racing driver you want to win and unfortunately at the moment, that’s not what’s happening. So, we need to just kind of put our heads down and continue to improve. But I think it’s been very clear every weekend that it’s getting better.
“If we can kind of continue that trend, that’s going to be the most positive in my eyes. But like I said, anything that I do, I want to compete in. So, I want to do better than I’m doing at the moment.”
Herta is still getting his head around the huge differences between IndyCar, his home for the past seven season, and the different style of racing and machinery in F2, saying a lot of elements felt “foreign” to him.
“It’s all very different to my past experience,” the nine-time IndyCar race winner explained. “The car, the tyre, the torque of the engine, the downshifts; everything is very foreign at the beginning, so it does take quite a bit of adjustment in the driving style.
“The mental side to tell yourself to do it and then to actually do it is quite difficult, obviously. But I found it enjoyable. Learning new things, driving new cars, it’s always been a good thing. And I think it’s a good thing for Formula 1 too, right? You need to be a chameleon, the car is changing every weekend, and you need to be able to adjust. So, it’s a good year for that.”
Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss said the squad was satisfied with the underlying progress Herta is making this year, even in the absence of headline results.
“We certainly expected to see the ups and downs,” Towriss said when asked by Motorsport.com about Herta’s trajectory in 2026. “I think a big part of the Formula 2 journey was to learn tracks and tyres.
“Obviously in Formula 1, one-lap pace is so important, being able to get your tyres ready and go out and do the one lap. And these are very different tyres than what Colton’s raced on his entire career, and so relearning that, learning new tracks as we go – I love the progress that he’s making, and everything’s on track, and it’s really going about how we expected.”
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