Colton Herta is in line to finally receive his F1 superlicence after Cadillac handed him his latest practice outing, this time at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
According to the team, Herta is on 39 superlicence points after his outing in FP1 last week at the United States Grand Prix, with 40 required to finally earn the American his licence to potentially race in F1.
Herta is set for his fifth FP1 outing of the season, and will assume Valtteri Bottas's MAC-26 in Mexico City, as the Finn stands down for the second of his two mandatory sessions this season.
Herta will have driven in all five of Cadillac's FP1 sessions, with rumours growing that he could be line for a race seat if Bottas is not retained for 2027 - with boss Marcin Budkowski not shutting down a potential change in the driver line-up when questioned in Austin.
Herta will be required to complete 100km of running in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, equal to 24 laps of the track to earn the point.
He had picked up FP1 points in Barcelona, Hungary, and the United States, but his session in place of Sergio Perez in Italy did not earn the point as he only completed five laps, or 25km, due to technical problems.
After he moved to 39 points with his Austin FP1 outing, a team spokesman indicated to RacingNews365 that it would be "remiss" of the team not to give the Californian an opportunity to finally achieve the superlicence he has long worked for.
A potential move to F1 in 2022 was blocked by the FIA after it did not agree to give Herta a waiver to qualify for a superlicence without the necessary 40 points in a three-year period.
The bulk of Herta's 39 points to date comes from his 2024 IndyCar season when he finished as runner-up to Alex Palou - and earned 30 superlicence points.
Other results in IndyCar and his FP1 outings have pushed him to 39, with the run in Mexico set to bring him to the magical 40 and earn him his superlicence, should he complete that 100km of running.
"Every opportunity to get behind the wheel with the team is valuable, and I’m looking forward to being back in the car in Mexico," he said in the team preview.
"It’s a great chance to keep learning, build my experience in Formula 1 on a new circuit and contribute to the team’s work across the weekend."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look back on the United States GP and look ahead to Mexico City! Red Bull's return of gearbox gremlins is a lead discussion, as is Kimi Antonelli being just days away from becoming world champion.
Rather watch this episode? Then click here!
Most read
In this article
Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.
Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar
A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..
Join the conversation!