Now it's official! Colton Herta finally has his FIA superlicence

After a bizarre mistake a week ago in Mexico City, Colton Herta has now officially qualified for an FIA superlicence, paving the way for a potential move to an F1 race seat in 2027.

Herta took over Sergio Perez's Cadillac during first practice for the São Paulo Grand Prix and, after completing the 24 laps needed at Interlagos, chalked up the 100km of running required to earn a point towards his superlicence.

On Friday in Mexico City, the first free practice hour at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was supposed to help the American reach the required 40-point threshold needed to race in F1.

This is because rookie stand-in drivers for those sessions earn a solitary superlicence point if they complete 100km. Herta therefore needed to complete 24 laps, and racked up 30.

However, it was established soon after the session that a mistake on the IndyCar website incorrectly listed him as finishing sixth in the standings last year, when, in actuality, he finished seventh.

Therefore, he earned two fewer superlicence points than the six that were originally thought. The FIA confirmed later that Herta remained on 39.

It highlighted that Cadillac's maths was wrong when approached by RacingNews365 ahead of the race in Mexico, with the team insisting he was on 39 points and one away.

In reality, the nine-time IndyCar winner secured one point in 2023, 30 in 2024 when he finished second in the American championship, and four last year.

Those 35 points, coupled with the four he has earned for first free practice sessions for Cadillac this year — in Barcelona, Austria, the United States, and then Mexico — brought the F2 driver to 39 of the 40 required.

Allowed to run in FP1 at Interlagos, Herta completed the 24 laps needed with seven minutes of the session remaining.