“We don’t have an answer yet”: ‘Hopeful’ Helmut Marko on IndyCar star Colton Herta gaining F1 Super License
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Helmut Marko and Colton Herta
Sebastian Vettel’s retirement announcement triggered great upheaval in the Formula 1 market. Soon, Fernando Alonso went to replace him, Oscar Piastri, who was supposed to be his replacement, eventually went to McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo. But there’s still a vacant seat at Alpine for next year.
Mick Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo and especially Pierre Gasly are considered to be candidates. Colton Herta was reported to be one of the candidates for the McLaren seat as he is their test driver, but the team opted for a more ‘proven’ Oscar Piastri. Now, Herta may get a F1 seat after all.
AlphaTauri are interested, and according to Helmut Marko, the two parties have an agreement. But there is one major issue – Herta doesn’t have the required super license points for an F1 seat (he has 32 out of the required 40) but the team and he are seeking an exemption to the rule, as it’s felt that he has already proven his mettle in IndyCar. There hasn’t been any confirmation yet, but Red Bull are ‘hopeful’.
Zak Brown: ‘If Colton Herta isn’t eligible [for an F1 seat], we need to review the system’
As per Racer, Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor, had hoped for an answer from Monza, but it hasn’t happened. However, it’s still very much a possibility. He said: “No, we don’t have an answer yet. It will be around… latest the end of the month. We are still hopeful.”
Zak Brown, McLaren CEO is also hoping that Colton Herta will get an exemption from this rule, but he feels that the licensing system needs to be reviewed as well. He said: “I get that the rules are what the rules are, and the rules shouldn’t be broken. But I question whether just because they’re rules that are in place now, that those are the correct rules.”
He further added that Herta (who has won 7 IndyCar races) is definitely F1 calibre: “…So no one’s sure yet where the ruling’s going to come down. But I think if someone like Colton, who has won a lot of IndyCar races, isn’t eligible for a Super License then I think we need to review the Super License system.”
Brown cited the example of Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen, saying that the two wouldn’t have been eligible for a super license. If the super license rules were in place back then, it’s possible their entries into F1 would have been much delayed. He praised Colton Herta for doing a great job in testing, adding that Herta can drive a Formula 1 car without question.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)