Colton Herta reveals Red Bull rollercoaster behind failed F1 switch

Colton Herta has chronicled the day-to-day uncertainty surrounding his collapsed move to AlphaTauri for the 2023 F1 season, sharing he had a contract from the team but was unable to sign it.

The American, now racing in Formula 2 with a view to reaching F1 with Cadillac, explained the rollercoaster nature of his conversations with Red Bull adviser Dr Helmut Marko during the 2022 saga that ultimately saw him denied an FIA super licence exemption.

"I really liked the straightforwardness of dealing with Dr Marko," Herta said on the Beyond the Grid podcast, highlighting the Austrian's direct communication style.

Herta detailed how the probability of the move fluctuated wildly throughout that period.

He added: "The good part about all of that was that he [Marko] was very straightforward on the possibility of it: one day it was, if I had to put a percentage, maybe it's 80 per cent, and then the next day is like 40 [per cent]. [And then it was like: 'wait, we clawed back, so maybe 60 [per cent].'

"So there was a very real possibility. I had a contract from them [AlphaTauri], just unable to sign because I didn't have the super licence."

Making the right decision

The 26-year-old held just 32 of the required 40 super licence points, with Red Bull pursuing an FIA exemption that was ultimately rejected. Herta was set to replace Pierre Gasly, who departed for Alpine.

Facing mounting uncertainty, the nine-time IndyCar winner was forced to re-sign with Andretti Autosport in the Stateside series, a decision that proved fortunate when the super licence exemption failed to materialise.

"Eventually, I couldn't really wait too much more; I had to sign a new deal in IndyCar, and Michael [Andretti] and Dan [Towriss] were very gracious to have me back in IndyCar, and so I signed with them, which ended up being the right thing, because I didn't get allowed [a super licence]," he explained.

"I would have had no Formula 1 seat and no IndyCar seat. And don't know what I would have done then, but it was a very strange time. It was always day to day.

"It's so hard. Even for me, I was like, looking at the reports, and I was like: 'Man, these people think it's gonna happen, maybe it'll happen.'

"And then he called Dr Marko, and he's like: 'Well, don't be so sure, and maybe this stuff can happen.'

"But, yeah, it was very gracious at the time of everybody, of being able to go into the Red Bull sim, being able to talk to Dr Marko about the possibility of Formula 1, and a lot of people took a lot of time out of their days to kind of point me in the right direction and help me out. So very gracious for that."

When Herta was 15 years old, he spent two seasons racing in Europe before returning to America. However, he was not close to joining Red Bull at that early stage of his career.

"No, I didn't, but I wasn't really over here that long," he replied when asked if he ever had the opportunity to join the Red Bull young driver programme. "I did two seasons of British F4 and EuroFormula Open, Formula 3.

"I don't think I was over here long enough. I don't think I did probably enough to warrant it at that time. But no, never had any interest at that point."

The California native is now pursuing his F1 ambitions through Cadillac, combining an F2 campaign with four FP1 sessions for the American constructor this season, starting in Barcelona, as he closes in on obtaining his super licence.