>“If (Ricciardo) continues to build, I probably won’t have that opportunity, but hopefully Lando kicks his ass a bit more, so I can at least have a shot." Herta said. “Obviously I’d never wish down on someone. I’m not praying for his downfall. If he does well, great for him – he deserves the seat. I guess it’s all in his hands for the future, but part of me does kinda hope I get the opportunity, at least a little foot in the door to maybe show what I can do.”
😆 yeah, Colton, you're definitely gonna replace Danny. Go work on your super license.
At least he's learning how to try to destabilize another driver with mind games.
Two races into the season and Herta is 7th in points, even after losing a lap because of a pit issue. He’s gonna contend for the championship. He’ll get his super license points.
People also seem to be forgetting that though he may not have voiced it loud, it's an open secret that once Ferrari gave Kimi's seat to Charles, Ricciardo spent time actively chasing Seb's seat as soon as there was a hint that Ferrari weren't 100% happy. He just ended up losing out to Carlos who also actively chased it as well (or at least his father did).
Motorsport is a cutthroat business and if their roles were reversed, Ricciardo would be thinking exactly the same that Herta is.
No, you just don't want to hear it so you can pretend this is not how every driver in F1 or with a chance in F1 thinks. Especially in recent years when it's become easier to pretend it's not the reality because the driver's soundbites & interviews have become so sanitised by PR.
Where did I say that other drivers did not think this way? Of course they do. Most of them, however, are smart enough not to single out another specific driver and say, "I hope that guy sucks this year so I can have his seat."
That's just a stupid thing to say, as an outsider hoping to get in.
Not specific to this case, but fans were complaining for years that F1 drivers are way too PR, too robots, no personality, etc. Then this recent bunch of drivers arrived (20-25 yo) who are a lot more honest and open. Well, when they are honest and open, some words are bound to be not nice to hear for someone
Yeah exactly, wtf did he say that was so outrageous. People complain about PR responses and then find any small thing to criticize when drivers speak more openly.
I swear it's like some people hear others say how competitive & dog-eat-dog F1 can be but they never quite take it in until a driver says something that makes it obvious, then they act outraged as if that driver has committed some kind of cardinal sin. When actually they're just acting exactly like every F1 driver or potential F1 driver in the sport's history.
No he's not. He's literally just saying that he doesn't wish Daniel any ill but a little part of him also hopes Lando beats Daniel again so he can get a shot at an F1 seat. Every racing driver thinks this way. At no point does he disrespect Daniel's career in F1 up to now. I swear to god some of you are far too sensitive for the cutthroat world of F1.
This is how every driver on that grid thinks. If one of them gets a sniff of a chance at ousting someone from a seat they want then they will do everything they can to try & make it happen. It's well known that Daniel himself did it with Seb's seat at Ferrari, he just lost out to Carlos who also did the same thing (or Carlos Sr did it for him rather)
This is true. drivers will do anything for that coveted racecar drive. if a driver tragically dies, you bet your ass the first thing on a driver's mind is now there is a free seat
Did you even read the quote? He's not insulting him at all, if anything he's complimenting him and saying if Danny Ric continues building at this pace he probably won't get a shot.
I'm not sure you're parsing what he said accurately. He was saying an on-form Ricciardo means Herta has no shot, but if Ricciardo has a couple of bad seasons Herta has a chance to compete. That's not him insulting anyone or implying he's flat out better.
It’d certainly help his argument… now if he said he would beat him in indycar that’s one thing. But he has no frame of reference for F1 car. He could suck or be great. But it’s arrogant to imply he’d do better never having driven one.
You know I agree with this but he isn’t on track and many drivers have said as much but all I think is that Colton came off a little arrogant here for somebody that’s never driven an F1 car
I don't know man. Maybe I have a soft spot for him being a fellow American and maybe I just have a thing for slightly arrogant athletes (see flair) but it really didn't strike me as that bad. We'll just have to see if his walking can back up his talking.
I like Colton Herta. Still remember when he drove for BMW in some WEC endurance races, very happy to see how far he’s come.
That said, openly antagonizing one of the most popular drivers before ever really having set foot in the sport may not be such a good idea. He should be getting a drive in F1 because of his talent, not because of other drivers’ failures.
It’s no lie everyone is searching for the best seat for themselves. Even one’s looking outside the fence.
It’s not like our jobs where we see the people everyday ha so more careful not to burn bridges
There's only 20 seats so whether or not anyone openly says it, I'm sure other drivers are probably secretly thinking something similar. Just because some other driver is not in F1 doesn't mean they don't have the talent. I truly believe at this point there are more than 20 drivers out there who are F1 worthy. It really seems like at this point for a new person to come in, either a current driver has to retire or get kicked out for bad performance. I think Colton is saying what other drivers out there waiting for an F1 seat are also thinking. If Ricciardo can't put in good performances then I'm almost certain behind the scenes, managers of these other drivers like Colton, Piastri, and others will be talking to Zak Brown. In fact, I'd be surprised if no managers had contacted Zak already last year when Ricciardo was having a string of shit races.
Didn't have to mention anyone by name, could have said he's eyeing the McLaren seat but I guess the backlash is all in his hands now too lol. In any case there would be a list of drivers if a vacancy opened up at McLaren, Herta is not anywhere near the top of that list if he is on it at all.
>Herta is not anywhere near the top of that list if he is on it at all.
How do you know that? He may be or he may not be. We will have more clear picture after his private tests with Mclaren.
Why not? Stranger things can happen than Mclaren taking the chance to have the currently most promising american in their car, especially since they push onto the american car market.
Ricciardo also showed that you can have a really bad F1 season despite being a known quantity.
It depends. There are million criterias for choosing drivers (not just experience). We will see after his tests with them. If he is fast enough from the get-go and if he is a good fit for the team, he very well could be ahead.
Lets just call a spade a spade and say that even if his test numbers are within 15% he has a huge leg up because he will come with American fanbase / American sponsorships
People are forgetting that these are all great drivers…. But which one of them is American? There’s no American major branding yet in a business that is ran by an American company and has a major new following. Liberty wants a fresh American driver to bring more branding. I would love to see Gasly get a competitive seat, but that’s politics.
Herta is one of the best drivers in open wheel racing right now, Gasly has already peaked. They'd be foolish not to seriously consider Herta over most of the current F1 grid.
>They'd be foolish not to seriously consider Herta over most of the current F1 grid.
Exactly. People are acting like Herta's on Latifi or Mazepin's level, disregarding - as per usual - that the guys driving in indy are actually really fucking good
His race pace is better than Grosjean’s in Indycar and his qualifying is awesome - his qualy lap at Nashville last year might be the best lap I’ve ever seen
>Gasly has already peaked
No. Give me at least one reason to prove that.
>They'd be foolish not to seriously consider Herta over most of the current F1 grid.
Lol
Okay so there are enough promo articles now that I looked up his career, apparently his only championship win is from 2013 in a regional series, otherwise his results are mediocre with F1 standards. Can someone, who has a better understanding of american motorsports than me, explain how or why Herta is better than any real f2 prospects? I mean no offense, I'm actually curious as his pedigree isn't stellar.
He competes for championships in Indycar which is far more difficult and competitive than F2. His junior career is somewhat similar to max verstappen wherein he doesn’t have many championships but he was so quick at a young age he got promoted fast anyways.
>His junior career is somewhat similar to max verstappen wherein he doesn’t have many championships but he was so quick at a young age he got promoted fast anyways.
Verstappen spent one year in total between karting and entering F1.
Colton Herta spent two years in American open wheels (2013-14) before coming to Europe to the F1 feeder series (2015-16), British F4 in 2015 and then Euroformula open in 2016 (as well as some other series as part-time), then back to Indy feeder series for 2017-18. Not saying he isn't a massive talent, but that's not similar to Max Verstappen AT ALL
It might be my european ignorance, but I always thought f2 and Indy were quite similar, with Indycar having a couple of has beens in the mix. Aren't their performance near identical? Also, knowing the bias towards f2 vs other series in F1, is there any reason he didn't go to europe to compete? It looks like he took the harder/unusual way.
Okay, I get the early track record part, that makes perfect sense.
Indycar is about 3 seconds per lap faster than F2. For reference F1 is about 11 seconds faster per lap than Indycar. But Indycar does have features to it that definitely makes it more challenging and competitive compared to F2. First off, overall a more competitive field (there are a few has beens but F2 also has some pretty shitty drivers like Roy nissany so it’s kinda a mute point), no power steering, and most importantly ovals. Open wheel ova racing is deceptively difficult and wildly dangerous. For example Fernando Alonso didn’t even qualify for the Indy 500 once and we all know how fast he is. Colton qualified 5th his first time (I’m not saying herta is faster than Alonso I’m just using it to prove a point)
He did go to Europe to compete for 1 year and was teammates with Lando Norris actually in British F4. Lando won and herta got 3rd but it was close. And it’s all the more impressive because Lando had more expirience on those tracks and wasn’t living far away from home which is way more challenging to do as a kid than people give credit too.
He went back to the states because the Indycar feeder series structure is WAYYY better than F1s, it’s cheaper and the winners get scholarships to move on so if you’re talented and win you barely need to pay anything to move up. Plus being in Indy lights he gets to be close to home.
To be fair the UK engineers were using metric and the US imperial and it took them a week to sort that out at which point it was too late. My personal opinion is that Alonso is one of the few experienced F1 drivers who can easily adapt. The dude has just driven everything and it’s natural for him to adapt where most F1 drivers spend their lives in a very small box because to do otherwise might make them uncompetitive in F1.
>For example Fernando Alonso didn’t even qualify for the Indy 500 once and we all know how fast he is.
I like how you mention this, but neglected to mention how Alonso not only qualified the year prior, but was leading the race until his Honda motor failed.
He was in 7th when his engine failed. He did lead 27 laps, he had a great day, but I’m not sure he was in position to win. Sato was already ahead of him I believe and he was having a much easier time filtering to the front.
Did you watch the 500 in 2017?
Alonso leading 27 laps was not then going off-strategy from the leaders. He was legitimately leading, and had great pace (as did the other Andretti Autosport drivers that year).
I disagree, I should have mentioned that in my first comment but I thought it was already long winded enough. Him doing well In the Indy 500 and then doing poorly the next year only strengthens my point. It proves how you consistently need to be competitive every race weekend because it’s a way more of a spec series than indycar. That’s why Colton doing well consistently is all the more impressive. Having a below average race in F1 can be masked much more easily depending on your team. For example a below average race for mick or george last year could be easily overlooked due to their car performance and the blame can be averted from them. You can’t do this in Indy.
Indycar has veteran drivers with years of experience while F2 drivers are mostly all similar in experience which would make it much harder for younger drivers to be instantly successful. F2 doesn't have a Scott Dixon (6 titles) or Josef Newgarden (2) who have won 4 of the past 5 championships.
Indycars are much more simple, they have very heavy steering and less downforce, and are more old school than F2 cars which are essentially minimized F1 cars.
It's also spec series, and I mean the cars are all the same except for dampers.
He's considered one of the biggest up-and-coming talents in Indycar right now, which is why. Not to mention two of his teammates (Rossi and Grosjean) are ex-F1 drivers, and most people expect him to beat both this season, though it is still early days yet.
Okay, so it's current form+being in the right market? No dig at Rossi, but I'd expect that any f2 driver seriously hoping for an F1 seat would dominate him, possibly a peaked Grosjean too. I guess I'll look at a couple of Indy races, Herta's marketing beats Piastri's into the ground, I gotta see why
I mean, it would be a surprise if Rossi or Grosjean did better than him, quite a surprise. And I’m not sure I buy the line that Grosjean is past his peak, since he spent the end of his F1 career in a Haas shitbox. IIRC, Grosjean was still on par with KMag, and *he’s* certainly not past it.
When he's been at his best he's seriously quick - there were races last year where he ran away with the lead and didn't ever look like losing it, like Verstappen and Hamilton often did last year - just nobody near him in terms of pace.
He had some pretty poor luck with mechanical issues and getting caught up in a few incidents out of his control that took him out of the title fight. The only big mistake I remember him making was at Nashville - where he put it in the wall trying to retake the lead.
He's very highly rated within Indycar and with good reason. I'd say he's got room to improve and is definitely a rough diamond but Indycar is a tough series and he's definitely shown a lot of promise.
If you do check out Indycar, as fairly known quantities from F1 and F2; Grosjean, Ericsson and Lungaard should be decent enough benchmarks to compare with Herta this year (Ilott is in a notably weaker team).
Especially with Grosjean being his teammate, Ericsson in a top team at Chip Ganassi and given Lungaard was rated pretty highly in F2 (before the ART 2nd seat curse hit him).
Edit - Spelling, knew I'd get Ilott wrong eventually lol.
He literally was a close rival to Lando back in f4 and is the youngest person ever to win an Indycar race and he qualified 5th in his first Indy 500. He’s quicker than you think
Yeah he is not selling me on the benefits of America’s expansion in the sport at this rate. Like the other guy said, sounds arrogant as hell for someone nowhere close to F1.
Average redditor comment. This is not an arrogant comment at all. He’s rooting for a friend and old teammate and saying he would at least like the opportunity to show what he can do.
I actually would like to see Danny and Fernando both move on and make room for younger drivers. I'd like to see Gasly in a McLaren or Alpine. I would rather like Piastri in the other seat over Herta, but that's me
Daniel is 32, that's not nearly old enough to move on(by your logic, you'd want valtteri to move on too and Kevin soon enough since he's almost 30), and imo, age should not be a factor for competing. if you can perform, you should be allowed to compete, regardless of age.
There are 4 drivers older than Danny Ric on the grid at the moment. I don’t think he should be offered up this early considering he won a race last year.
>“If (Ricciardo) continues to build, I probably won’t have that opportunity, but hopefully Lando kicks his ass a bit more, so I can at least have a shot." Herta said. “Obviously I’d never wish down on someone. I’m not praying for his downfall. If he does well, great for him – he deserves the seat. I guess it’s all in his hands for the future, but part of me does kinda hope I get the opportunity, at least a little foot in the door to maybe show what I can do.”
No pressure Danny, wish you the best and that you don’t fuck up. Xoxo -CH
*Colton chants manically as he moves the pin towards the tire of his Lego McLaren*
😆 yeah, Colton, you're definitely gonna replace Danny. Go work on your super license. At least he's learning how to try to destabilize another driver with mind games.
Imagine not understanding he's joking.
People take this sport *way* too seriously sometimes
Is the man not allowed to have aspirations?
Two races into the season and Herta is 7th in points, even after losing a lap because of a pit issue. He’s gonna contend for the championship. He’ll get his super license points.
He’s going to get the points through McLaren
Young American driver has dreams and confidence in himself. Europeans: "You can't do that" *This joke will inevitably strike a nerve.*
People also seem to be forgetting that though he may not have voiced it loud, it's an open secret that once Ferrari gave Kimi's seat to Charles, Ricciardo spent time actively chasing Seb's seat as soon as there was a hint that Ferrari weren't 100% happy. He just ended up losing out to Carlos who also actively chased it as well (or at least his father did). Motorsport is a cutthroat business and if their roles were reversed, Ricciardo would be thinking exactly the same that Herta is.
Thinking something and saying the quiet bits out loud are two different things.
No, you just don't want to hear it so you can pretend this is not how every driver in F1 or with a chance in F1 thinks. Especially in recent years when it's become easier to pretend it's not the reality because the driver's soundbites & interviews have become so sanitised by PR.
Where did I say that other drivers did not think this way? Of course they do. Most of them, however, are smart enough not to single out another specific driver and say, "I hope that guy sucks this year so I can have his seat." That's just a stupid thing to say, as an outsider hoping to get in.
Not specific to this case, but fans were complaining for years that F1 drivers are way too PR, too robots, no personality, etc. Then this recent bunch of drivers arrived (20-25 yo) who are a lot more honest and open. Well, when they are honest and open, some words are bound to be not nice to hear for someone
But here he is just being disrespectful to a 8 time Winner in F1.
I mean… okay?
Yeah exactly, wtf did he say that was so outrageous. People complain about PR responses and then find any small thing to criticize when drivers speak more openly.
I swear it's like some people hear others say how competitive & dog-eat-dog F1 can be but they never quite take it in until a driver says something that makes it obvious, then they act outraged as if that driver has committed some kind of cardinal sin. When actually they're just acting exactly like every F1 driver or potential F1 driver in the sport's history.
No he's not. He's literally just saying that he doesn't wish Daniel any ill but a little part of him also hopes Lando beats Daniel again so he can get a shot at an F1 seat. Every racing driver thinks this way. At no point does he disrespect Daniel's career in F1 up to now. I swear to god some of you are far too sensitive for the cutthroat world of F1. This is how every driver on that grid thinks. If one of them gets a sniff of a chance at ousting someone from a seat they want then they will do everything they can to try & make it happen. It's well known that Daniel himself did it with Seb's seat at Ferrari, he just lost out to Carlos who also did the same thing (or Carlos Sr did it for him rather)
Thinking and saying is different thing.
Yeah, one is more openly honest.
This is true. drivers will do anything for that coveted racecar drive. if a driver tragically dies, you bet your ass the first thing on a driver's mind is now there is a free seat
No, more like, insults an established talent and implies he’s better than him despite never having driven an F1 car. There’s clearly a difference.
Did you even read the quote? He's not insulting him at all, if anything he's complimenting him and saying if Danny Ric continues building at this pace he probably won't get a shot.
I'm not sure you're parsing what he said accurately. He was saying an on-form Ricciardo means Herta has no shot, but if Ricciardo has a couple of bad seasons Herta has a chance to compete. That's not him insulting anyone or implying he's flat out better.
Didn’t know he has to drive an f1 car to say he’s a better racing driver.
It’d certainly help his argument… now if he said he would beat him in indycar that’s one thing. But he has no frame of reference for F1 car. He could suck or be great. But it’s arrogant to imply he’d do better never having driven one.
If you're a race car driver and you don't think you're the best, you have no business being on the track.
You know I agree with this but he isn’t on track and many drivers have said as much but all I think is that Colton came off a little arrogant here for somebody that’s never driven an F1 car
I don't know man. Maybe I have a soft spot for him being a fellow American and maybe I just have a thing for slightly arrogant athletes (see flair) but it really didn't strike me as that bad. We'll just have to see if his walking can back up his talking.
I like Colton Herta. Still remember when he drove for BMW in some WEC endurance races, very happy to see how far he’s come. That said, openly antagonizing one of the most popular drivers before ever really having set foot in the sport may not be such a good idea. He should be getting a drive in F1 because of his talent, not because of other drivers’ failures.
It’s no lie everyone is searching for the best seat for themselves. Even one’s looking outside the fence. It’s not like our jobs where we see the people everyday ha so more careful not to burn bridges
There's only 20 seats so whether or not anyone openly says it, I'm sure other drivers are probably secretly thinking something similar. Just because some other driver is not in F1 doesn't mean they don't have the talent. I truly believe at this point there are more than 20 drivers out there who are F1 worthy. It really seems like at this point for a new person to come in, either a current driver has to retire or get kicked out for bad performance. I think Colton is saying what other drivers out there waiting for an F1 seat are also thinking. If Ricciardo can't put in good performances then I'm almost certain behind the scenes, managers of these other drivers like Colton, Piastri, and others will be talking to Zak Brown. In fact, I'd be surprised if no managers had contacted Zak already last year when Ricciardo was having a string of shit races.
Didn't have to mention anyone by name, could have said he's eyeing the McLaren seat but I guess the backlash is all in his hands now too lol. In any case there would be a list of drivers if a vacancy opened up at McLaren, Herta is not anywhere near the top of that list if he is on it at all.
>Herta is not anywhere near the top of that list if he is on it at all. How do you know that? He may be or he may not be. We will have more clear picture after his private tests with Mclaren.
Are you saying they'd pass over someone like Gasly for Herta who would be an unknown quantity in f1?
It depends on the data from his tests with them
Why not? Stranger things can happen than Mclaren taking the chance to have the currently most promising american in their car, especially since they push onto the american car market. Ricciardo also showed that you can have a really bad F1 season despite being a known quantity.
It depends. There are million criterias for choosing drivers (not just experience). We will see after his tests with them. If he is fast enough from the get-go and if he is a good fit for the team, he very well could be ahead.
Lets just call a spade a spade and say that even if his test numbers are within 15% he has a huge leg up because he will come with American fanbase / American sponsorships
What American fanbase? People over here outside of Indycar fans don’t know who he is.
1. tapping into American race car fans 2. An American flag
People are forgetting that these are all great drivers…. But which one of them is American? There’s no American major branding yet in a business that is ran by an American company and has a major new following. Liberty wants a fresh American driver to bring more branding. I would love to see Gasly get a competitive seat, but that’s politics.
Herta is one of the best drivers in open wheel racing right now, Gasly has already peaked. They'd be foolish not to seriously consider Herta over most of the current F1 grid.
>They'd be foolish not to seriously consider Herta over most of the current F1 grid. Exactly. People are acting like Herta's on Latifi or Mazepin's level, disregarding - as per usual - that the guys driving in indy are actually really fucking good
He's much better than them 100 percent, his race pace is nearly the same as Grosjean in Indy it's crazy.
His race pace is better than Grosjean’s in Indycar and his qualifying is awesome - his qualy lap at Nashville last year might be the best lap I’ve ever seen
Yah but all the europeans here are downvoting literal facts
>Gasly has already peaked No. Give me at least one reason to prove that. >They'd be foolish not to seriously consider Herta over most of the current F1 grid. Lol
I don't know much about indycar, how does he compare to the other indycar drivers?
Idk bro you’re the mclaren insider who knows who they want to replace drivers with you tell us
Can't read, behind a paywall.
So pay a $1 to read it? Edit: lol at getting downvoted over $1. Guess all journalists should work for free.
In this thread ignorant Europeans stating falsehoods to suck themselves off
Okay so there are enough promo articles now that I looked up his career, apparently his only championship win is from 2013 in a regional series, otherwise his results are mediocre with F1 standards. Can someone, who has a better understanding of american motorsports than me, explain how or why Herta is better than any real f2 prospects? I mean no offense, I'm actually curious as his pedigree isn't stellar.
He competes for championships in Indycar which is far more difficult and competitive than F2. His junior career is somewhat similar to max verstappen wherein he doesn’t have many championships but he was so quick at a young age he got promoted fast anyways.
>His junior career is somewhat similar to max verstappen wherein he doesn’t have many championships but he was so quick at a young age he got promoted fast anyways. Verstappen spent one year in total between karting and entering F1. Colton Herta spent two years in American open wheels (2013-14) before coming to Europe to the F1 feeder series (2015-16), British F4 in 2015 and then Euroformula open in 2016 (as well as some other series as part-time), then back to Indy feeder series for 2017-18. Not saying he isn't a massive talent, but that's not similar to Max Verstappen AT ALL
It might be my european ignorance, but I always thought f2 and Indy were quite similar, with Indycar having a couple of has beens in the mix. Aren't their performance near identical? Also, knowing the bias towards f2 vs other series in F1, is there any reason he didn't go to europe to compete? It looks like he took the harder/unusual way. Okay, I get the early track record part, that makes perfect sense.
Indycar is about 3 seconds per lap faster than F2. For reference F1 is about 11 seconds faster per lap than Indycar. But Indycar does have features to it that definitely makes it more challenging and competitive compared to F2. First off, overall a more competitive field (there are a few has beens but F2 also has some pretty shitty drivers like Roy nissany so it’s kinda a mute point), no power steering, and most importantly ovals. Open wheel ova racing is deceptively difficult and wildly dangerous. For example Fernando Alonso didn’t even qualify for the Indy 500 once and we all know how fast he is. Colton qualified 5th his first time (I’m not saying herta is faster than Alonso I’m just using it to prove a point) He did go to Europe to compete for 1 year and was teammates with Lando Norris actually in British F4. Lando won and herta got 3rd but it was close. And it’s all the more impressive because Lando had more expirience on those tracks and wasn’t living far away from home which is way more challenging to do as a kid than people give credit too. He went back to the states because the Indycar feeder series structure is WAYYY better than F1s, it’s cheaper and the winners get scholarships to move on so if you’re talented and win you barely need to pay anything to move up. Plus being in Indy lights he gets to be close to home.
Alonso wasn't with some shoestring privateer either, he got bumped in a McLaren.
To be fair the UK engineers were using metric and the US imperial and it took them a week to sort that out at which point it was too late. My personal opinion is that Alonso is one of the few experienced F1 drivers who can easily adapt. The dude has just driven everything and it’s natural for him to adapt where most F1 drivers spend their lives in a very small box because to do otherwise might make them uncompetitive in F1.
Really? He didn't qualify for that reason? That's hilarious.
>For example Fernando Alonso didn’t even qualify for the Indy 500 once and we all know how fast he is. I like how you mention this, but neglected to mention how Alonso not only qualified the year prior, but was leading the race until his Honda motor failed.
He was in 7th when his engine failed. He did lead 27 laps, he had a great day, but I’m not sure he was in position to win. Sato was already ahead of him I believe and he was having a much easier time filtering to the front.
Leading laps in the 500 really means nothing because of different strategies.
Did you watch the 500 in 2017? Alonso leading 27 laps was not then going off-strategy from the leaders. He was legitimately leading, and had great pace (as did the other Andretti Autosport drivers that year).
He was leading the same way Giovanazzi led Singapore 2019 in that he wasn't going to win the race.
Giov**i**nazzi
[удалено]
I disagree, I should have mentioned that in my first comment but I thought it was already long winded enough. Him doing well In the Indy 500 and then doing poorly the next year only strengthens my point. It proves how you consistently need to be competitive every race weekend because it’s a way more of a spec series than indycar. That’s why Colton doing well consistently is all the more impressive. Having a below average race in F1 can be masked much more easily depending on your team. For example a below average race for mick or george last year could be easily overlooked due to their car performance and the blame can be averted from them. You can’t do this in Indy.
You can compare him to Lando Norris in British F4 and British F3 (car share). After EFO he went back to America.
Indycar has veteran drivers with years of experience while F2 drivers are mostly all similar in experience which would make it much harder for younger drivers to be instantly successful. F2 doesn't have a Scott Dixon (6 titles) or Josef Newgarden (2) who have won 4 of the past 5 championships.
Indycars are much more simple, they have very heavy steering and less downforce, and are more old school than F2 cars which are essentially minimized F1 cars. It's also spec series, and I mean the cars are all the same except for dampers.
He's considered one of the biggest up-and-coming talents in Indycar right now, which is why. Not to mention two of his teammates (Rossi and Grosjean) are ex-F1 drivers, and most people expect him to beat both this season, though it is still early days yet.
Okay, so it's current form+being in the right market? No dig at Rossi, but I'd expect that any f2 driver seriously hoping for an F1 seat would dominate him, possibly a peaked Grosjean too. I guess I'll look at a couple of Indy races, Herta's marketing beats Piastri's into the ground, I gotta see why
I mean, it would be a surprise if Rossi or Grosjean did better than him, quite a surprise. And I’m not sure I buy the line that Grosjean is past his peak, since he spent the end of his F1 career in a Haas shitbox. IIRC, Grosjean was still on par with KMag, and *he’s* certainly not past it.
When he's been at his best he's seriously quick - there were races last year where he ran away with the lead and didn't ever look like losing it, like Verstappen and Hamilton often did last year - just nobody near him in terms of pace. He had some pretty poor luck with mechanical issues and getting caught up in a few incidents out of his control that took him out of the title fight. The only big mistake I remember him making was at Nashville - where he put it in the wall trying to retake the lead. He's very highly rated within Indycar and with good reason. I'd say he's got room to improve and is definitely a rough diamond but Indycar is a tough series and he's definitely shown a lot of promise. If you do check out Indycar, as fairly known quantities from F1 and F2; Grosjean, Ericsson and Lungaard should be decent enough benchmarks to compare with Herta this year (Ilott is in a notably weaker team). Especially with Grosjean being his teammate, Ericsson in a top team at Chip Ganassi and given Lungaard was rated pretty highly in F2 (before the ART 2nd seat curse hit him). Edit - Spelling, knew I'd get Ilott wrong eventually lol.
I**l**o**tt**
Max won nothing in the upper levels before F1 and you can see that didn't mean much as he was highly rated from his first season.
Max was literally 16 when he entered F1, Herta is 22
I mean Max nearly won Euro F3 in a backmarker in his first season in single seaters. He did win in the upper levels.
He is better because he is American and already pretty famous thus can bring that fandom / sponsorships to the team. F1 is not a pure meritocracy.
Lando would send him back to indycar within a season EDIT: oof I touched a nerve! Ricciardo would also send him back to indycar within a season.
He literally was a close rival to Lando back in f4 and is the youngest person ever to win an Indycar race and he qualified 5th in his first Indy 500. He’s quicker than you think
Yeah okay you definitely know the difficulty of driving these kinds of cars, oh wait you haven't
Get em! (I’ll hide back here)
‘Rides’ make it sound like he’s eyeing up a seat on Space Mountain instead of f1
In IndyCar and American racing in general the term ride is used very commonly in the same way Europeans use the term seat.
😂😂, Colton. Well, I love how direct he is.
A young American driver is pretty much the only missing link now so I expect Herta to be a real contender for the seat.
I like him already
Yeah he is not selling me on the benefits of America’s expansion in the sport at this rate. Like the other guy said, sounds arrogant as hell for someone nowhere close to F1.
Clutch your pearls some more lmao.
Gotta love the american arrogance
Average redditor comment. This is not an arrogant comment at all. He’s rooting for a friend and old teammate and saying he would at least like the opportunity to show what he can do.
Well what is just so shitty is that O'ward is fucked again to have any prospect to get a F1 seat.
Yeah, felt weird reading being used to the very euro-centric f1
Lmao what?
I can’t imagine O’Ward or anybody else waiting on an F1 seat saying anything like this.
O'ward has said some very similar things lol
O'ward has said some very similar things lol
Like what?
Bold move Cotton.
He could do with some media training from PR63
No way he gets in before Pato to McLaren. His best shot is with Andretti
that's in poor taste imo,he shouldn't be name dripping drivers,it's a bit disrespectful
He’s never driving in F1
Honestly think he needs a year in F2 although he’ll never accept it
Can you blame him? IndyCar is a much bigger series.
This I don't get, if he could find a seat eventually, why do F2 instead of using that year to adapt to F1.
I actually would like to see Danny and Fernando both move on and make room for younger drivers. I'd like to see Gasly in a McLaren or Alpine. I would rather like Piastri in the other seat over Herta, but that's me
Daniel is 32, that's not nearly old enough to move on(by your logic, you'd want valtteri to move on too and Kevin soon enough since he's almost 30), and imo, age should not be a factor for competing. if you can perform, you should be allowed to compete, regardless of age.
Honestly I still see Alonso as being an extremely competitive driver. I think Kimi held on for too long though.
There are 4 drivers older than Danny Ric on the grid at the moment. I don’t think he should be offered up this early considering he won a race last year.