Cadillac F1 hopeful FLIPS car in scary crash

Colton Herta looks on thoughtfully into the crowd — Photo: © IMAGO

Racing News

Cadillac F1 hopeful FLIPS car in scary crash

Colton Herta flipped his car over

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 18 May 2025 20:58

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Formula 1 hopeful Colton Herta suffered a huge crash during qualifying for the iconic Indy 500 race.

The American racer thankfully was okay, being cleared by medical checks, after an incident in which his Andretti Global car flipped on its head having taken off the ground in a high-speed crash.

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Herta could be in for an F1 seat in the future, being tipped to join the new Cadillac team when they join the grid in 2026, if he can perform well enough in IndyCar to gain his superlicence.

New Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon recently suggested that an American driver is a priority for the incoming 11th team on the grid, while Cadillac advisor Mario Andretti said that the team are looking for a young American driver to sit alongside an experienced F1 racer.

That has made Herta and the likes of Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas contenders for the seats, but now the 25-year-old has suffered a setback.

Qualifying for the 109th Indy 500 takes place over two days, meaning Herta still has a chance of claiming a good grid slot for next Sunday's race.

Herta was travelling at approximately 235 mph when he lost control of his car, with a scary onboard showing quite how lucky the American was to walk away unscathed.

Indy 500 sees huge incidents

Herta's crash led to an 18-minute delay to qualifying on Saturday, and it was not the only airborne crash of the weekend.

During 'fast Friday', Kyffin Simpson's car took off, but unlike Herta, Simpson's car landed back on its wheels.

Speaking to FOX Sports following his huge qualifying crash, Herta said: "Yeah, I'm fine. Luckily, nowadays, these crashes look a lot scarier than they feel - not to say that one felt good.

"I think the team is going to be hard at work right now trying to get the backup car ready, and it's probably going to be impossible to get out today. We'll have to see what we can do, just a terrible day for this to happen.

"And, no real signs leading to it. We were super happy with the car this morning, and go out and it's just loose. Couldn't even get lap one done. So, yeah, it sucks, but I'm good and we'll keep going."

Scary moment here with Colton Herta. He would get of the car and walk away on his own ? pic.twitter.com/mAVjTPZQWy
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 17, 2025