Colton Herta’s road to F1 reaches huge milestone with Cadillac announcement

Colton Herta will take his first official step into Formula 1 at this weekend’s Barcelona Grand Prix after Cadillac confirmed he will replace Sergio Perez in Friday’s opening practice session.

It is a monumental moment for the 26-year-old American, who walked away from a successful career in the IndyCar Series to join HiTech in Formula 2 with an eye on making it into Formula 1.

Colton Herta confirmed for Cadillac FP1 debut in Spain

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Formula 1’s regulations mandate that every team run a young driver in four FP1 sessions during the championship, two per car.

Herta will complete the first of Cadillac‘s this Friday when he replaces Perez at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona.

The Spanish Grand Prix is traditionally a favourite venue for the teams to tick off one of the four FP1 sessions, given that all the drivers on the grid know the circuit very well from testing and past races.

“I’m excited for Barcelona,” said Herta.

“I feel ready to get out there. I’ve had time in the simulator at Charlotte, learning the track and the procedures to follow during the session.

“I’ve also been working with the team at Silverstone and at the track over the past few races, following how they work so I can get up to speed as quickly as possible.

“The aim is to have a clean session and help the team gather the data it needs, as well as getting used to the F1 car.

“It’s going to be a busy weekend as I’m competing in F2 at the same time, but pressure is a privilege so I’m looking forward to it.”

Although Herta is only four races into his Formula 2 career, and has yet to step onto the podium, the American was recently linked to Valtteri Bottas’ race seat at Cadillac.

Bottas found himself the target of unfounded rumours that his days at Cadillac were numbered as his performance level had not met the team’s expectations.

F1’s rumour mill jumped on the disparity between Bottas’ results and those of his teammate Perez and claimed the 10-time grand prix winner was at ‘serious risk’ of losing his race seat to Herta.

Bottas brushed it aside as nothing but bull.

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“Well, it’s part of the sport. It’s not the first time I’ve faced those kinds of rumours,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Monaco.

“But it’s a bit of a shame that somebody just makes up complete bullshit, but that’s normal in this sport.

“I know my situation, the team knows my situation, they support me 100 per cent.

“So that’s why, from my side, it was okay in the end.”

Team principal Graeme Lowdon also labelled the rumours “fiction”.

“There is no foundation of truth in any of the rumours at all,” he told PlanetF1.com. “I can categorically say that. Just… where do I start on the rumours themselves?

“I’ll make it really, really clear factually, they’re completely incorrect. There’s no basis of truth whatsoever in any of them.”

Asked what he believes led to the rumours, he replied: “Headlines. Click. That’s my theory.”

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