Andretti supportive of Herta/McLaren F1 deal

Michael Andretti says he’s supportive of the new Formula 1 testing and development deal struck between his lead NTT IndyCar Series driver and McLaren Racing.

Colton Herta, the 21-year-old from California with six IndyCar wins to date, is signed to drive for Andretti through 2023, and with the recent emergence of Andretti’s efforts to launch the Andretti Global F1 team in 2024, the 1991 CART IndyCar Series champion sees nothing but positives with Herta’s extracurricular plans made directly with McLaren.

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“I think it's really important for the programs that we're working on, obviously, and so McLaren was good enough to get him some miles in the car, which I think it'd be really good for him, plus it helps getting points towards his super license,” Andretti told RACER. “So it was really cool of McLaren to do that.”

Although RACER understands the deal with Herta was done directly between the driver and McLaren with an eye to seeing whether he could be an option for the team in the future, Andretti says the best way to characterize the tie-up between Herta, McLaren, and McLaren CEO Zak Brown -- his business partner in the Walkinshaw Andretti United Australian Supercars team -- is one of friends helping friends to get the IndyCar driver the testing experience he’ll need ahead of any decisions on where he’ll drive in 2024 and beyond.

“That's the way I would describe it,” Andretti said. “You know that Zak wants to show that Americans can drive race cars and I think he’d love to see Colton go over there and put in some really good lap times. But then also it helps Colton out, helps us out getting him for miles in the car early. There’s a lot of good things that could come out of it.”