MONTEREY, California – One year ago, Colton Herta had his sights focused on Formula One. He was so sure that he would be joining F1’s world championship in 2022, that he approached the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series final race of the season as a farewell.
That included hiring a video crew to document what he thought would be the last time he climbed into an IndyCar. At that time, Herta was 21 and knew that at his age, he always could return to IndyCar later in his career.
But he was convinced team owner Michael Andretti was closing in on the purchase of the Sauber F1 team and was going to join him as his driver. INDYCAR AT LAGUNA SECA: Details, schedules for watching the season finale on NBC As Andretti was about to close on the $600 million deal, Sauber was willing to take the money but would not relinquish control of the team.
Wisely, Andretti had no interest in investing $600 million without having the controlling interest, and the deal fell apart.