Herta reiterated that targeting a Formula 1 seat “is a goal of mine and has been for a while” but emphasized that the two-day test was mainly “to see what these cars are all about, and luckily McLaren was able to give me a chance.”

And what a car to drive, it’s really special to not only have a first test in a Formula 1 car but to have it in a race-winning Formula 1 car is even cooler.” “It’s a little bit of a different driving style but the engineers were very helpful getting me up to speed. “It was a lot of fun, a great two days getting acclimated to the car, which is obviously quite a bit different to what I’m used to driving,” said Herta. driver since Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner, in 2015.Colton Herta tested a McLaren F1 car in Portugal on Monday and Tuesday. The sport is owned by U.S.-based Liberty Media who are keen to grow it in the Americas.įormula One has not had a U.S. The United States will have two grands prix this year, with Miami debuting in May and Austin, Texas, a fixture on the calendar. McLaren also have an Ind圜ar team and chief executive Zak Brown, an American, has been supportive of Andretti's bid to enter Formula One. Herta said last month that he would not be able to pass up an opportunity to race in Formula One should the FIA approve Andretti's application. Michael Andretti has applied to the governing FIA for an entry to become the 11th team in the Formula One championship by 2024.Īndretti tried last year to take over Swiss-based Sauber, who run the Alfa Romeo team, and has said Herta would have been one of the drivers had he been successful. Herta, who drives for Andretti Autosport in Ind圜ar, said driving a Formula One car had always been on his racing bucket list. '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.' 'Colton is a proven talent in Ind圜ar and we will be interested to see how he adapts to a Formula One car,' said McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl in a statement during pre-season testing in Bahrain. McLaren gave no details of the testing programme for the 21-year-old, who in 2019 became the U.S.-based series' youngest winner. March 12 (Reuters) - American Ind圜ar driver Colton Herta will test for McLaren this year under new Formula One rules allowing teams to evaluate young talent in year-old cars.

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