Herta made his competitive karting debut in 2010 at the age of ten, racing karts in the SKUSA and IKF series, although he had been karting since the age of six. He made his single-seater racing debut at 13, finishing second in the SBF2000 Winter Series.[citation needed]
USF2000 Championship (2014)
In 2014, he made his professional racing debut in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, finishing fifteenth in the championship despite missing the opening weekend due to age requirements. In the same year, Herta made his international formula racing debut at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia with the Meritus-run AsiaCup Series, taking part in one event where he won one race win and three podium finishes. Herta also made a one-off appearance in the Global RallyCross Championship Lites, being the youngest driver to compete in the series.[citation needed]
In 2015, he made his debut in the UK-based MSA Formula series, as the youngest driver and the only American on a grid that consisted mostly of Britons, and got his first win in the second race at Snetterton Circuit in August, thus helping the United States win the Nations Cup. He went on to collect three more victories throughout the season, finishing third overall.[3]
For 2016, he was planning to move to the newly renamed BRDC British F3 series but was too young to compete at the opening round.[4] Wanting to complete a full season, he made the switch to the Euroformula Open Championship, staying with Carlin and finished third in points, with four victories, six podium finishes, and five pole positions. Herta went on to compete in six British F3 events, earning three podium finishes including a victory at Brands Hatch.
In 2017, Herta joined forces with the newly formed Steinbrenner Racing to pilot the 98-car in the Indy Lights Series.[5] He started the year strong with a second place finish in the first race at St. Petersburg street circuit and followed it up with a Sunday victory; Colton's first win in Indy Lights. He got his second victory at the next event at Barber Motorsports Park, the series' four-hundredth race. Herta won Rookie of the Year and finished third in the drivers championship.
For the 2019 IndyCar season, Herta signed to drive the No. 88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing car. Herta was the first IndyCar Series driver born in the 2000s to start a race. On March 24, 2019, at the age of eighteen, Herta became the youngest-ever winner in IndyCar history by winning the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas.[7] He qualified fifth for the Indianapolis 500, but retired after just four laps after a gearbox failure. On June 22, 2019, at the age of nineteen, Herta became the youngest-ever pole-sitter at Road America. He won again at Laguna Seca, and finished seventh in the overall standings, just five points behind Rookie of the Year Felix Rosenqvist.
2020: Backed by Andretti
Herta again drove the #88 car for Harding Steinbrenner Racing in 2020, with additional backing from Andretti Autosport. Herta finished seventh in the opening round of the 2020 IndyCar season at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished eighth at the Indianapolis 500. On September 13, 2020, Herta won the second of two races held at Mid-Ohio. He scored a runner-up finish at the Indianapolis road course's Saturday race. With seven top-fives in fourteen races, he ranked third in points.[citation needed]
Going into 2021, Herta was seen as the strongest challenger in the Andretti stable to Scott Dixon for the IndyCar title. Herta would also move from the No. 88 Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Racing car to the No. 26 Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian car with backing from Indianapolis 500 title sponsor Gainbridge. Herta started his season caught up in an accident caused by Josef Newgarden in Alabama but earned his first win of the season at St. Petersburg, his first win on a street circuit.[8] He would secure two podium finishes before his second win of the season; a second-place at Road America and third place at the second round on the IMS Road Course. He was frequently beset by poor strategy, mechanical issues, and driving errors. Most notable of these was at the inaugural round in Nashville; Herta would qualify on pole position for the race,[9] lead most of the race, lost the lead under caution to Marcus Ericsson, and crashed out of the race attempting to take the lead back from Ericsson in the closing laps.[10] Herta was in place to win the race at Gateway but would have to retire the car due to a broken half shaft that happened during a pitstop. Herta would pick up his second win of the season at Laguna Seca, where he led all but one lap of the race to win from pole.[11] He finished the season off with a come from behind victory on The Streets of Long Beach when he started fourteenth and worked his way rapidly through the field to take the lead from Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon to win his third race of the season. He ultimately finished the season fifth in the championship standings.[12]
2022: A difficult season
After intense speculation that he would be making a move to Formula One, Andretti Autosport and Herta announced that he would be racing in IndyCar in 2022, partnering Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean, and Devlin DeFrancesco. Herta struggled in the initial rounds of the season, including crashing after losing the lead at Long Beach, but picked up his first win of the season at the GMR Grand Prix. Herta was in place to win the second race at the IMS road course before a mechanical failure would cause him to have to retire the car for the day and his teammate Alexander Rossi would win.[citation needed]
Herta initially signed a multi-year contract to remain with Andretti Autosport,[13] though this would be later to be extended to 2027.[14] Herta's 2023 would end with three top-five finishes, including a podium at Toronto. He also took back-to-back poles at Mid-Ohio and Road America, where he would also lead the most laps. Road America proved to be the closest Herta would come to a win in 2023, dominating the race before dropping to fifth due to a poor strategy call forcing him to save fuel in order to reach the finish. The season concluded with Herta tenth in the standings again after a tough second half including two DNFs at Nashville Street Circuit and the finale at Laguna Seca.[citation needed]
2024: Career best
Herta started the season with five top five finishes in the first five races, including podiums at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. He struggled with bad luck and performance issues after the Indianapolis 500, though did manage to pick up another podium finish at Laguna Seca and his first pole position on an oval at Iowa. Herta finally broke through at Toronto, qualifying on pole and winning his first race in two years. At the final race of the season at the Nashville Superspeedway, Herta broke through and took his first win on an oval, securing second place to Alex Palou in the 2024 IndyCar Series championship standings, his highest points total yet. Herta also became the highest scoring Andretti Autosport driver in the modern IndyCar era since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.[citation needed]
2025: Final year with Andretti
Following the season's end, Herta would leave Andretti and the IndyCar series altogether to become Cadillac's test driver in Formula One, with Will Power replacing him after getting released from Team Penske.[15]
With the attempted purchase of Sauber by Andretti Autosport in 2021, Herta was the favorite candidate to join Formula One with Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season. This led to both a seat mold made for him and a test with the simulator at the team's base in Hinwil, Switzerland—where Mario Andretti and various other reports claimed he set faster times than Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo's 2021 lineup.[18] A preliminary agreement was reached with Ferrari to hold a 300km (186.41mi) test with Herta to allow him to participate in free practices at the United States, Mexico City and Sao Paulo Grands Prix. However, negotiations between Andretti and Sauber broke down at the end of 2021, resulting in Herta never participating in the test sessions.[19]
Herta was later signed by McLaren in 2022 as a development driver to test the MCL35M–McLaren's 2021 car.[20] He took part in his first test drive from July 11–13 around the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão.[21] Later that year, Red Bull began to show interest in having Herta as an AlphaTauri driver in 2023.[22] Herta however, lacked enough points to obtain an FIA Super Licence—necessary to be able to contest in Formula One. Red Bull began efforts to obtain one for Herta, asking the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to consider an exception for Herta.[23] Red Bull then reached an agreement with Alpine for Herta to test their Formula One cars in September at the Hungaroring—an event the French team organised to aid effort to choose their 2023 driver—in an effort to earn Herta more super licence points.[24][25] Alpine would accept on the condition that then AlphaTauri driver, Pierre Gasly, was free to join the French team.[26] Ultimately, the FIA refused to make an exception for Herta,[27] forcing Red Bull to abandon its efforts to bring the American driver to Formula One, with Herta not participating in the tests with Alpine.[28]
In late 2024, Herta became heavily linked to a drive at the newly-forming Cadillac Formula One Team after their bid to join Formula One in 2026 was accepted.[29][30]Mario Andretti—a member of the board of directors—stated that one of their two seats would "most likely" go to him, but added that "you have to keep your options open."[31] Cadillac later announced that their two seats would be filled by Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas in August 2025 as Herta fell short of the fourth place finish needed to secure a Super License for 2026. The next month, Herta was later announced as Cadillac's test driver for 2026, leaving Andretti's IndyCar outfit to fulfill this role. Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss also announced that Herta would aim for a seat in Formula 2, in an attempt to obtain enough super license points to be eligible for a spot in Formula One.[32] Herta would need an outright top-eight finish in Formula 2 to reach the 40 points required for an FIA Super License for 2027, or a top ten finish with free practice sessions.
Personal life
Outside of racing, Herta is a member of the indiepunk rock band The Zibs, where he plays the drums. He formed the band in 2018 with his high school friends Jon Graber and Chris Broadbent.[33]
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