Colton Herta forced to become 'chameleon' in last-chance F1 gamble

Colton Herta has explained how he must become a "chameleon" during his F2 rookie season in his late-ditch attempt to make it to F1.

The American, who is a test driver for the new Cadillac F1 team, moved across to FIA F2 for the 2026 season after a successful career in IndyCar in a bid to try and secure a race seat in grand prix racing. 

A major stumbling block for Herta's dreams of F1, and which blocked Helmut Marko's attempts to place him at AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls) in 2022, was his lack of a superlicence.

To earn one, a driver must have acquired 40 points in the last three seasons, but Herta never reached this threshold through his IndyCar spell. 

Heading into the 2026 season, he holds 39 points through 10th, 2nd, and 7th place finishes in the last three IndyCar seasons, meaning he is one point away from being granted a superlicence.

In FIA F2, finishing in the top three automatically earns 40 points, with Herta also able to gain the single point he needs by completing FP1 outings for the Cadillac team in F1 grands prix. 

Speaking about the scale of the change in adapting from IndyCar machinery to FIA F2, Herta, who finished seventh in the Melbourne feature race, has detailed how being a "chameleon" is key.

"This was an easy decision, because it was probably my last opportunity at F1," Herta told The Athletic.

"I’ve been close quite a bit, but for me, I think this is the best opportunity I’ve had and the strongest opportunity to make it.

"[Adaptability] is a trait you have to have, especially in F1, where the car is changing throughout a season and year-to-year, and you might need to adjust your driving style. 

"You need to be able to basically be a chameleon. You need to be able to shift and change, and you cannot be affected by changes in the racecar. It’s an important trait to have as a racing driver.

"The geometry of the car, how it produces downforce, how it produces power. A lot of different changes are happening in my driving style, and need to be shifted.

"I’m taking it day-by-day with all that stuff.

"I’ll most likely be doing some FP1s. But as far as I’m concerned, this year, as long as I have something, that’s my main championship. 

"It takes up 95% of my focus. Five or six days out of the week, I’m focused on F2, and on that sixth day, half of it is focused on F1.

"I need to do well in F2, that’s my primary category this year and the main bulk of the focus. Then we’ll see."