Mario Andretti reveals "some action going on" over Colton Herta F1 move

Colton Herta after his IndyCar win in St Petersburg — Photo: © LAT Images

United States Grand Prix

Mario Andretti reveals "some action going on" over Colton Herta F1 move

Herta is contracted to Andretti Autosports in IndyCar

Ewan Gale

Thursday 21 October 2021 12:44

Former F1 world champion Mario Andretti believes the sport is "very strongly" on American IndyCar sensation Colton Herta's mind with "some action" going on behind the scenes.

Herta races for Andretti Autosport in the American open-wheel series, the team run by Mario's son, Michael.

With F1's profile being boosted Stateside with the inclusion of a second US race next season in Miami and the success of the Netflix series 'Drive to Survive', the next step to gaining traction in America has been touted to be the inclusion of a native driver on the grid.

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Herta had been tipped to fill that void having secured a victory in just his third IndyCar race in 2019.

The 21-year-old has now added a further five to his tally but a new contract with Andretti seemed to have tied him into the IndyCar series long term.

His F1 chance could now come with reports suggesting Andretti is in talks with Sauber with a view to a takeover of the Alfa Romeo team.

After suggesting Herta suited F1, 1978 world champion Andretti Sr explained his credentials when speaking to the F1 Nation Podcast.

"He is basically trained there," said Andretti.

"If you speak to Lando Norris, they raced together in Formula 3, he pretty much did his early racing in Europe and came to the States and was immediately a force to be reckoned with in the supporting series to IndyCar.

"He won championships there and then when he moved onto the IndyCar, immediately he was a winner.

"I mean in a good way, you know? Not lucky, I mean speed, good calculation and the last race he won, he started 14th at Long Beach and I would not have given him a 30 per cent chance of winning. There again, he came right through the best of them.

"He has quality that, in my opinion, comes along every couple of decades. I would love to see someone like that get a crack at Formula 1.

"I see clearly with Colton that Formula 1 is in his mind very strongly and I think timing is good for him. Again, we will see what happens but there is action going on on that front and we will see what happens."