Herta still one point short of Super License after IndyCar results anomaly

Colton Herta remains one point short of his required Super License points to apply to race in Formula 1 following confusion caused by an anomaly on the IndyCar website.

Cadillac had claimed Herta only needed one further point to reach the 40 required for his Super License following his FP1 outing in Austin and ran him again in first practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix. While the team then stated it could apply for Herta’s license, there was confusion over how it felt he had reached the total of 40.

With finishes of 10th, second and seventh over the past three IndyCar seasons, Herta secured a total of 35 points, and then had taken part in three FP1 sessions that met the requirements for an extra point. That left him on 38 points, with his Mexico City outing providing his 39th and leaving him needing one more FP1.

As the IndyCar Series is not an FIA-run championship, the FIA had based its understanding of Herta’s results off the IndyCar website, where the results showed the Californian as sixth in the 2025 standings for a number of months this year, only to be corrected to seventh at the start of this week. The Wayback Machine internet archive showed the correct standings to be shown from the end of the 2025 season until some time between March 10 and May 10 this year, when it was updated to show Herta in sixth.

Herta finished the 2025 season level on points with Felix Rosenqvist but one place below the Swede on the tiebreaker that prioritizes finishing positions, with Rosenqvist having a best finish of second place and Herta a best finish of third.

The FIA has now confirmed to RACER that it has verified that Herta should be classified as seventh in 2025 and therefore has a total of 39 points, requiring one more to be eligible for a Super License.

Cadillac’s chief racing officer Marc Hynes says the intention is to give Herta further outings in order for him to be considered for a race seat in 2027.

“We got the run program in and got him the kilometers we were looking for, so every day he gets back in the car he's more comfortable with everything and obviously it's a new track here and quite low grip early on, but did a good job for us,” Hynes said.

“Everything’s good with Colton. He’s enjoying being part of the team and it’s quite a strange weekend with the illness going on, but he’s just experienced isn’t he? He gets in a team, he knows how to work, and we’ve had a good day with him.

“We’re looking to get him more seat time as the season goes on. And it’s a little unsure how the end of the season is looking - well I guess it’s not unsure is it? We’re going. But we’ll look to get some more time for him as the year goes on.”