Colton Herta testing with McLaren

Full member of the Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) program of McLaren Since this year, Colton Herta will be entitled to his first experience with the Woking team. Taking advantage of the two-week truce in IndyCar, the youngest winner in the history of the discipline will sit behind the wheel of the MCL35M.

« The sporting regulations allow teams to test cars from a year ago under the TPC program, giving Colton his first opportunity in a racing car. Formula 1. McLaren F1's TPC program allows the team to evaluate young talent, which also saw Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O'Ward take advantage of this opportunity, » indicates McLaren in its press release.

22-year-old American @ColtonHerta will test for the team in Portimão as part of our MCL35M car testing program.

The opportunity for Colton comes with the new F1 sporting regulations, which enable teams to test one-year-old cars. Learn more. 👇

- McLaren (@ McLarenF1) July 11, 2022

For three days (July 11-13), Colton Herta will take advantage of the MCL35M, used by Lando Norris et Daniel Ricciardo in 2021, to complete his first laps in a Formula 1 car. Colton is a proven talent in IndyCar and we will be interested to see how he adapts to a Formula 1 car, underlines Andreas Seidl, McLaren team principal. We believe this testing program will provide him with valuable experience while demonstrating the benefit of expanding testing of older cars to prepare promising drivers for the future. »

Herta soon in F1?

Still involved in IndyCar, Colton Herta does not know what his future will hold. While his contract with Andretti has still not been extended, the American sees himself in F1 as he suggested in the podcast F1Nation last May. " This is a serious ambition for me. When I finish running, I want to be able to say that I achieved the goals I set for myself. There are quite a few objectives. And Formula 1 is high on the list. I wanted to go to IndyCar. I wanted to race the Indy 500 and I still want to win the Indy 500 obviously, which I haven't done yet."

For the moment, there is no indication that Colton Herta will be on the grid in 2023. If Daniel Ricciardo is in the hot seat, the Australian could be replaced by another driver from the McLaren fold in the person of Pato O'Ward. There is also the Andretti option for confirmation, the team whose colors he wears in IndyCar and which plans to join F1 in 2024. It remains to be seen if one of these tracks will materialize with an arrival in the premier category.

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