McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed what it would take for IndyCar ace Colton Herta to be considered for a Formula 1 seat.
The Andretti Autosport driver, 22, is testing the McLaren F1 car this year, and has found himself at the center of conversations about who the next American F1 driver will be.
“We have a testing program now so we’re going to be taking it seriously,” Brown, who hails from Los Angeles, told the Post at the Miami Grand Prix.
“Colton has to be super fast, fun and enjoyable to work with, and he has to be very good in his technical feedback.
“If he does all of that … when a seat becomes available, he’s in with a shot.”
The McLaren boss reiterated there was no “imminent need” for a driver, with young gun Lando Norris under contract until 2025 and eight-time race winner, Daniel Ricciardo signed through the end of 2023.
However, Herta, who was also linked to Michael Andretti’s failed bid to purchase the Alfa Romeo F1 team last year, is making a solid case for himself.
“I want to be in F1 at some point in my career, and obviously, time is essential to that, so it’s going to be very important to do a good job in the test and hopefully open some doors,” he said on the “F1 Nation” podcast, ahead of his stunning victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last week.
Should Herta secure a seat, he would be the first American to compete in F1 since Alexander Rossi drove for the now-defunct Marussia F1 team in 2015. An American driver hasn’t won a Grand Prix since Mario Andretti in 1978.
“Colton has the benefit of having raced in Europe so he knows the tracks,” Brown said of Herta’s crucial experience in the “feeder systems” across the pond, where he was teammates with Norris, 22, in the early stages of his single-seater career.
“Getting the chemistry of both drivers right is really important,” he added, noting Herta and Norris still had a “great relationship” after racing together from 2014 to 2015.
Speaking to reporters at the Miami Grand Prix, Norris referred to the California-born driver by his old nickname: “Hooligan Herta.”
“There’s one place he was extremely strong and that’s high-speed corners,” he explained.
“One of my strengths is pretty high-speed corners, but he was on another level. He would quite often go off [the track] because of it and we’d have to clean his car after because of how much dirt there was on it.”
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also believes that “now’s the time” to look for the country’s next talent.
“Here in the States, it’s the NFL, it’s NBA, it’s NASCAR, IndyCar, and I mean, in my 16 years of coming over here, it’s been such a slow build, trying to bring awareness to the sport,” Hamilton told reporters in Miami.
“Maybe now’s the time to start focusing on how we can include more people here because it’s such a diverse country. I’m sure there are some amazing drivers here … so it’d be a good mission for us to find the next one.”
Of course, one significant barrier to entry remains: F1, and its main feeder series, are entirely Europe-centric.
“The ladder to Formula 1 is more simple when you come from Europe,” Canadian driver Lance Stroll said.
“If you’re on the side of the world, you’ve got to move over to Europe [at a young age] to compete in Formula 3 and all that stuff … it’s not so simple.”
Brown doesn’t think it’s “mandatory” for an American join the grid in order to maintain the sport’s steady rise in popularity.
“But it would be additive,” he said.
“It would be great to happen, but we don’t have an American driver here now and look at everything going on.”