During the final day of Pre-Season Testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, McLaren Racing made the exciting announcement that current IndyCar driver Colton Herta, will be a member of the 2021 MCL35M car testing programme in 2022.
The American driver became the youngest-ever winner in IndyCar history in 2019 when he took victory at the Circuit of the Americas. Since then, the 21-year-old has won six times and claimed seven pole positions.
The opportunity for Herta has arisen due to the new Formula 1 sporting regulations, which enable teams to test one-year-old cars, under the Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) provision. McLaren will announce further details regarding their TPC in due course. The McLaren F1 TPC programme provides an opportunity for the team to test potential drivers and evaluate young talent for the future, with Herta certainly being one of them.
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren F1 is glad to have Herta onboard and is interested to see how he gets on behind the wheel of an F1 car.
“Colton is a proven talent in IndyCar and we will be interested to see how he adapts to a Formula 1 car. We believe this testing programme will provide him with valuable experience while demonstrating the benefit of expanding previous car testing to showcase promising drivers for the future.”
Herta is obviously over the moon with the chance to test for McLaren, an opportunity he knows is massive for him and his development.
“I want to thank McLaren for the opportunity to get my first laps in a Formula 1 car, which has always been on my racing bucket list. This will be a great opportunity for me to gain some valuable experience in a new form of motorsport and learn from such an established team like McLaren F1.”
