Colton Herta new test driver for McLaren

Youngest winner of a race IndyCar in history in 2019, Colton Herta now has six victories and seven pole positions to his name. Third and fifth in the championship over the last two seasons, the American has already become one of the sure values ​​of the car North American, at only 21 years old. This inevitably attracts attention, including that of McLaren. The British team announced this Saturday the arrival of the Californian as a test driver. “I would like to thank McLaren for the opportunity to take my first laps in a car of Formula 1, which has always been on my racing to-do list, Colton Herta said. This will be a great opportunity for me to gain valuable experience in a new form of motorsport and learn from such an established team as McLaren F1. »

Herta will thus have the opportunity to drive with the 1 Formula 2021, the MCL35M. The new regulations of the discipline allow teams to test drivers in cars from the previous year, as part of the TPC, the Testing of Previous Cars. “Colton is a proven talent in IndyCar and we will be interested to see how he adapts to a Formula 1 car, explains Andreas Seidl, McLaren F1 Team Principal. We believe this testing program will provide him with valuable experience while demonstrating the benefit of expanding on previous car testing to showcase promising drivers for the future. » A new important step for the American with a view to entering F1, he who is associated with rumors of the arrival of Andretti, whether through the takeover of Sauber which collapsed in 2021 or as a new entity for 2024.

Welcome, @ColtonHerta. 🤝🇺🇸
 
With the new Formula 1 sporting regulations, Colton will be a part of our 2021 MCL35M testing program in 2022.

- McLaren (@ McLarenF1) March 12, 2022

ALSO READ > But who's afraid of Andretti in F1?