Colton Herta withdraws from F2 sprint due to illness

Colton Herta has been forced to withdraw from the Formula 2 sprint race in Madrid after falling ill on the morning of the event.

Hitech confirmed the news on social media ahead of Saturday's race at the new Madring circuit, stating: "Colton Herta has withdrawn from today's Formula 2 Sprint Race in Madrid after feeling unwell."

It is a setback the American can ill afford. Herta sits 17th in the F2 standings with just 26 points after 10 of 14 rounds, and every missed opportunity to score makes his task that much harder with only four rounds remaining.

The 2026 season was always going to test Herta. He left IndyCar, where he had been a regular frontrunner, to join Hitech as part of a broader move into the Cadillac F1 programme.

The objective was to accumulate FIA Super Licence points and ultimately make his case for a future F1 seat. However, it has not gone to plan.

After a promising start, scoring points in each of the first three feature races, his form has tailed off significantly.

Herta himself has described the campaign as "pretty disappointing," admitting that "the results are disappointing. There's no hiding from it."

His Monza weekend, the round before Madrid, saw him crash in practice, qualify P20 and retire from the feature race after going off at Parabolica.

Whether Herta will be fit to compete in Sunday's feature race at the Madring remains to be seen.

Due to the temporary suspension of the session in FP3 caused by Lewis Hamilton's red flag, the F2 sprint race has been delayed, with the formation lap now scheduled to start at 14:35 local time.