Colton Herta still has eyes on racing in Formula 1 in the future despite a door closing on him during the off-season when Michael Andretti’s attempt to buy into Alfa Romeo Formula 1 Team ORLEN failed to materialise.
While talks between Alfa Romeo and Andretti were ongoing, rumours were afoot that Herta would be a leading contender to switch to the Formula 1 team, perhaps even as early as 2022, but when talks broke down, those rumours ended.
However, the twenty-one-year-old, who races for Andretti Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series, says Formula 1 has always been in his sights, but it needs to be the right time for him to make the move, and he knows the older he gets the less likely it will happen.
“You know, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to do Formula 1,” Herta is quoted as saying by PlanetF1.com during an IndyCar media day. “I want to do a lot of stuff in my career, but a lot of it also needs certain timing.
“Formula 1 is one of those things. If you’re 28, you’re not going to Formula 1, unfortunately. That’s just how it works. The time is right for me if I got the opportunity.”
Herta says he would have to have a ‘good think about it’ should another opportunity come his way, although he says he is not disappointed at all to be racing in IndyCar and would continue there in a heartbeat should Formula 1 pass him by.
“I’d have to have a good think about it, but I most likely would do it because I want to run in Formula 1 at some point,” Herta added. “I think people forget that I’m 21 years old and think that I can’t come back in five years and still run 15 years in IndyCar and be 40.
“Yeah, I definitely want to give [F1] a crack if I get the opportunity. But definitely not disappointed at all in IndyCar. I like this series more than any series in the world, and I enjoy racing in it a lot.
“But, there’s just a lot of stuff that I’d like to try in my racing career outside of IndyCar, also.”
