FIA rule change causes headache for Cadillac star

A change in FIA rules may just leave a Cadillac star with F1 hopes scratching his head about a move that has already been confirmed.

American racer Colton Herta has opted to ditch IndyCar and instead race in F2 from 2026 onwards, hoping to gain experience in F1's feeder series and have a better chance of one day becoming an F1 star.

25-year-old Herta had been racing in IndyCar, winning nine races across his young career, and finishing runner-up to Alex Palou in the 2024 championship.

He will be a test driver for Cadillac in 2026, helping the team's full-time drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas in developing the car, and Herta moved away from IndyCar in the hope of claiming enough superlicence points to be able to partake in a few practice sessions in the future.

However, the FIA have announced changes to the way that IndyCar superlicence points are allocated, drastically improving the amount of points that drivers get for finishing between third and ninth in the IndyCar championship.

It means that the driver finishing fourth in the 2026 IndyCar championship will receive 20 superlicence points, double the amount that drivers have previously got for finishing fourth in that series.

However, that is still less than F2, with fourth place in that series claiming 30 points, and the top three claiming the maximum of 40, the same amount given to the IndyCar champion.

In order to be able to compete in F1, drivers need to have amassed 40 points from their previous three seasons.

Cadillac's hopes for Herta

Herta will race for the Hitech Grand Prix team in F2 in 2026, and Cadillac will be hoping that he can hit the ground running and one day become a driver that they can rely upon to help them complete their rookie driver quota in practice sessions.

With their two full-time drivers in Perez and Bottas also a little long in the tooth, the American-based outfit may well be lining up Herta for a full-time seat in the future, potentially when General Motors team up with Cadillac in 2028.

There's no doubt that they have a desire to one day have an American racer filling one of their seats, but having the option to have Perez and Bottas (with 16 career grands prix wins between them) was too good to turn down for their first season.

Team principal Graeme Lowdon has already stated that he believes that the team will be running last in 2026, but having those two experienced racers may just help them to develop their machinery which will in turn help them for future seasons.

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