It’s official – Colton Herta will be a Formula 2 Driver in 2026 as the American driver officially signs up to compete for Hitech TGR. Why Hitech TGR? What can Herta achieve with them? Will he race in Formula 1 in 2027? Let’s take a closer look.
Colton Herta – From IndyCar to Formula 2
It’s been one of the biggest open secrets in the world of Formula 1 for a while – but now it’s official. Colton Herta will be competing in Formula 2 in 2026 and he’ll be driving for Hitech TGR.
Having competed in a few different European series growing up, such as the MSA Formula Championship and the Euroformula Open Championship, Herta then returned stateside to forge a career in motorsport there. He competed in the U.S F2000 National Championship before moving up to Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) for two seasons with Andretti Steinbrenner Racing. He flourished in the latter junior series, finishing in P3 overall in his rookie season and in P2 the following year.
The results were enough to get him into the big leagues and in 2019, Colton Herta made his first full season IndyCar debut with Harding Steinbrenner Racing. He impressed from the word go by winning the second race of the season at the Circuit of the Americas. Over the next seven seasons, Herta would win a further seven times, stand on the podium on an additional eleven occasions and rack up sixteen pole positions. In 2024, he also pipped Will Power to P2 in the Championship by winning the final race of the year in Nashville – his highest finish in the series.
Formula 2 ➡️ Formula 1
We’ve talked previously at The Paddock Chronicle about why Colton Herta is heading to Formula 2 – it’s all about those pesky super license points that you need to be able to compete in Formula 1. But the history behind this with Herta is longer than you might think.
Colton Herta has been linked with Formula 1 since at least 2021 when Andretti attempted to take over the Sauber F1 Team. He was the front runner for a seat at that team, having reportedly gone faster than both Räikkönen and Giovinazzi in the Alfa Romeo simulator.
“When it was almost done, the deal with Sauber, he spent a week in the wind tunnel and the third day, he was quicker than Giovinazzi and Raikkonen had been on the simulator and we couldn’t wait to put him in a Formula 1 car.” – Mario Andretti
When the bid to take over failed, McLaren signed Herta as a development driver for 2022. Red Bull then came sniffing along and got as far as arranging a test session with Alpine in Hungary in order to help Herta gain the super licence points needed to race for Alpha Tauri (now Racing Bulls) in 2023. In exchange, Alpine would be able to coax Pierre Gasly away from the team to race for them should he want to leave the Red Bull stable. But the FIA stepped in and blocked any possibility of an exception being made for Herta to test. In a way, Colton Herta is partly responsible for Gasly now racing at Alpine.
Cadillac Enters the Building
Thus, when Cadillac finally got approval to join the Formula 1 grid in 2026, it looked like it would be third time’s the charm for Herta. But alas, it was not to be, as the lack of super licence points (a point of contention given the high standard of racing undertaken in the IndyCar Series) prevented him from jumping straight over. Now, he needs to race in Formula 2 and prove himself there to gain the remaining super licence points needed for a possible entry into Formula 1 with Cadillac in 2027.
Why Hitech TGR?
When Herta was announced as a test driver for Cadillac, it was all but confirmed that he would then jump to Formula 2. But who would he race with? Answer – Hitech TGR. But why them?
Since 2020, Hitech TGR have had a solid reputation in Formula 2. Their worst season came in 2023 when the team finished P8 in the Standings. But in every other year, they’ve been in the top five. This year, with two rounds to go, they sit in P2 overall, just twelve points away from Invicta Racing in first place.
“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Hitech for the 2026 FIA Formula 2 season.” – Colton Herta
Their driver history too contains some highly rated names, such as Jak Crawford and Luke Browning. Former driver Marcus Armstrong has since gone on to race in IndyCar while other former drivers in the forms of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar have graduated to Formula 1 with Racing Bulls. Paul Aron too has gotten some F1 experience, both with Kick Sauber and Alpine – possibly with an eye on a seat with the latter for 2026. As mentioned, Marcus Armstrong also raced for Hitech GTR in the past, and with the New Zealander now in IndyCar, perhaps Herta was able to get his advice on what it would be like working with the team.
Colton Herta and…?
Who will partner Colton Herta at Hitech TGR? While unconfirmed at present, Japanese driver Ritomo Miyata looks poised to join the American for 2026. By then, he’ll have a season in Formula 2 under his belt and will be a good driver for Herta to learn the fundamentals of Formula 2 from. Miyata sits in P16 currently and knows all too well about the struggles of entering Formula 2 and succeeding after being in a different highly competitive series – in his case, Superformula.
Hitech GTR then looks like a great fit for Herta, with both a history in the series and a sign of improving as the years go by.
What about PREMA?
Once the envy of many across the European motorsport scene, PREMA has been having a difficult time of things lately. In 2024, they finished fifth in Formula 2, their worst result since 2019. This year, they’re on track to beat that, as they currently sit in seventh. In Formula 3 too, they’ve had their worst season in the history of the Championship. Over in IndyCar, bar a few flash-in-the-pan moments, they have also struggled all season long to make a lasting positive impact.
Despite this, PREMA looked like it could be a plausible landing place for Colton Herta in Formula 2. They entered IndyCar in 2025, and both Herta and the team would have been able to have conversations and get to know one another well to see if a deal could be reached. Whether or not this happened is unclear, but if it did, the end result speaks for itself. Perhaps it’s not surprising then that Colton Herta didn’t end up signing with them for 2026.
Colton Herta – Make or Break in 2026
It’s incredibly rare that we see a situation like this in motorsport. Normally, drivers prove themselves in the Feeder Series and, if successful, graduate to the top of the motorsport ladder. They never return because – well why would you? We’ve seen drivers from both Formula 1 and Formula 2 jump over to IndyCar in the past but never from IndyCar to Formula 2. As was alluded to, the necessity to do this is born from Herta’s need to gain the necessary super licence points for F1.
“This is an exciting step for Colton, but also a challenging one. He’s stepping into a new racing environment that has very different formats, with high expectations, and a clear goal of progressing to F1.” – Clive Hatton, Hitech TGR Formula 2 Team Manager
There is a massive risk here that a driver like Ritomo Miyata has peeled back the curtain slightly on. What if Colton Herta fails to make an impression in Formula 2? What if he doesn’t get the super licence points he needs? Would he return to IndyCar? Would there even be a seat there for him? But if he succeeds, he’ll demonstrate that IndyCar drivers are more than deserving of a shot in Formula 1. The bottom line is, 2026 is a make-or-break year potentially for Herta – and we just don’t know which way the pendulum will swing.
Will Colton Herta make it to Formula 1?
If Herta dominates with Hitech TGR in Formula 2 in 2026, it’s seems highly unlikely that he wouldn’t be racing for Cadillac in 2027. But who would Colton Herta replace were he eligible to compete in 2027?
“This is a big shift in my career, and I’m ready for the challenge.” – Colton Herta
Both Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are highly experienced Grand Prix winners, having helped both their former teams and teammates win World Championships. Potentially then, it would come down, once again, to money. Were that to be the case, a Herta/Perez line-up would look like the most likely option. Where would that leave Bottas? Possibly with a seat in IndyCar if he wanted or maybe even with yet another F1 team.
At the end of the day, Herta and Cadillac will have taken their time to plan his move into Formula 2. For them, Hitech TGR is their best option for achieving success and getting Herta onto the F1 grid as soon as possible. But if he does make it to Formula 1, will it all have been worth it? That’s the (multi) million dollar question.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
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Formula 2 returns November 28th for the Qatar Grand Prix.
Feature Image: Penske Entertainment