US star turned down Red Bull F1 contract: 'This is why I didn't sign it'

Red Bull

US star turned down Red Bull F1 contract: 'This is why I didn't sign it'

Herta was in direct contact with Red Bull supremo Helmut Marko

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 24 April 2026 23:55

Former IndyCar star and F1 hopeful Colton Herta says he almost signed for Red Bull's sister team Alpha Tauri (now Racing Bulls).

Herta completed the switch from American open wheel racing to Formula 2 this year, in a bid to acquire the five extra FIA super licence points he needs to make his F1 dream a reality.

The 26-year-old also signed as new team Cadillac's test driver for 2026 and will make four FP1 appearances this season, starting at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in June.

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While a driver needs 40 super licence points to compete in F1 full-time, young drivers can obtain a free practice only super licence which they can get with 25 points.

This means, being on 35 super licence points, Herta is eligible to take part in FP1 sessions this year.

How Herta nearly signed for Red Bull

During a recent appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Herta was asked about the time he nearly signed an F1 contract. Host Tom Clarkson referred to a period in the paddock when they were all led to believe that Herta had signed for Alpha Tauri (now Racing Bulls).

The Alpha Tauri squad was and remains owned by Red Bull, with their former advisor Dr Helmut Marko responsible for signing drivers and was in frequent contact with Herta during this period.

When asked how being on the precipice of signing an F1 contract felt for Herta, he responded: "I really liked the straightforward-ness of dealing with Dr Marko. Sometimes it hurts as a driver, you don’t want to hear some things but sometimes you need to hear them.

"But the good thing about all of that is he’s very straightforward on the possibility of it. One day it was 80 per cent and the next day it’s 40 per cent, we clawed back some so maybe 60.

"There was a very real possibility that I had a contract from them, I was just unable to sign because I didn’t have a super licence. And they were feeling really good at a point that they thought it was going to happen, and then they weren’t sure and eventually I couldn’t really wait too much more.

"I had to sign a new deal in IndyCar, Michael [Andretti] and Dan [Towriss] were very gracious to have me back in IndyCar and so I signed with them, which ended up being the right thing because I would have had no Formula 1 and no IndyCar seat. I don’t know what I would have done then.

"It was a very strange time, it was always day-to-day, it was so hard. Even for me, looking at the reports and thinking ‘man, these people think it’s going to happen, maybe it’ll happen'. And then you call Dr Marko and he’s like ‘well, don’t be so sure and maybe this stuff can happen'.

"I was very gracious at the time of everybody, being able to go into the Red Bull sim. Being able to talk to Dr Marko about the possibility of Formula 1. And a lot of people took a lot of time out of their days to point me in the right direction and help me out."

F1 Red Bull Helmut Marko Racing Bulls Colton Herta