Colton Herta: ‘A lot still has to happen’ for F1 as he aims for three straight at Laguna Seca

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.

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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.

For Herta, he returned to the No. 26 Dallara-Honda at Andretti Autosport and put his Formula One interest on hold.

But as the 2022 season winds down, it seems as if another F1 opportunity has materialized for Herta in a seat for the AlphaTauri team.

Herta isn’t approaching this weekend’s race the same way he did in last year’s season-finale at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

There won’t be a video crew filming Herta’s ever move at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca because Herta remains unclear on his future, especially with Andretti F1 still blocked by the current F1 team principals on joining their exclusive club.

“I’m not taking that approach this weekend because there are still a lot of unknowns in this thing,” Herta told NBC Sports in an interview this week. “A lot still has