Herta hindered by hair in Toronto IndyCar race with balaclava issue

Polesitter Herta still secured his first podium since winning the rain-soaked Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May, but revealed that his job of pressuring Dixon and defending from third-placed Felix Rosenqvist was made difficult in the closing stages when his vision became limited by his hair.

“I couldn't really see much because my head sock broke,” said Herta.

“All of my hair went in front of my face. I could see Felix when I went through Turn 3.

“I could kind of judge the gap… I was having to look out the sides of my visor instead of in front.”

Asked if Rosenqvist had closed up on him because he had used up his tyres too much trying to keep up with Dixon, Herta responded: “No, honestly I think a lot of it was from the balaclava.

“It sounds like a lame excuse and I try not to make excuses. Yeah, I really couldn't see much.

“Regardless, even if I could see, Felix seemed to be really fast, kind of just on pace with Scott, and we seemed to have a little bit more [tyre] deg.

“I was starting to struggle there at the end where it looks like Felix was still able to get out of the corners and able to stay with me. Maybe he wasn't struggling as much.

“This head sock that I have has to hold back a lot of hair, so I can understand why it broke. It's the first time I've ever actually seen that or heard of that. I’ll go for the Felix trim next week!”

Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda, Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, champagne, podium

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Herta insisted that the remedy would be “wearing a brand-new one every time I race” rather than get a haircut because “that would also solve things, but I'm not gonna”.

Herta also praised the Andretti Autosport team for