Colton Herta is actually still one point away from acquiring the FIA superlicense he would need to make his Formula 1 debut due to a bizarre error in the publication of the IndyCar rankings.
Cadillac raced Herta in FP1 in Mexico because it believed he was one qualifying point away from the 40 needed for a superlicense and Herta running at least 100 kilometers would ensure he gets that final point.
Cadillac had previously verified its calculations with the FIA in July, hence the team’s belief that it was only one point behind.
Cadillac had previously verified its calculations with the FIA in July, hence the team’s belief that it was only one point behind.
This was contrary to The Race’s calculations which put him two points behind Mexico.
After bringing these calculations to the FIA, The Race understands that these initial Cadillac calculations were based on erroneous results on the IndyCar website.
These results put Herta sixth in last year’s drivers’ championship, ahead of Felix Rosenqvist with whom he was tied on points.
But Rosenqvist should have been ranked first – and he was in the results distributed by IndyCar at the end of 2025 – because he had more second places than Herta.
The error remained on IndyCar’s website until informed of the error by a reporter earlier this week, when it was changed to correctly place Herta seventh.
That means he’s earned four superlicense points instead of six, which, combined with 30 points for finishing second to Alex Palou in 2024, one point for finishing 10th in IndyCar in 2023, and four points for his FP1 outings this year, means he’s actually still on 39 points.
There is a stipulation in the regulations that means you can count FP1 releases in a separate year (2026) from the three years you count results from (2023-25).
The International Sporting Code states: “A holder of a free practice only superlicence will be awarded one additional point per event of the FIA Formula One World Championship after successfully completing at least 100 km during a free practice session, provided that no penalty points have been imposed.
“A maximum total of 10 additional points will be taken into account for a super license application. All points awarded will be counted in addition to its sporting results, calculated according to article 13.1.5 and will be independent of the calendar year in which the free practice session(s) were completed.”
It’s highly likely that Cadillac will run Herta in another FP1 this year to get him to the necessary 40 points, whether or not the team decides to run him instead of Valtteri Bottas in F1 in 2027, as is being considered.
Racing understands that there has been an anomaly in the display of the IndyCar website database, which was detected this week and now reflects the official rankings as they were when published on August 31 last year.
Colton Herta’s Superlicense Points
10th in IndyCar in 2023: 1 point
2nd in IndyCar in 2024: 30 points
7th in IndyCar in 2025: 4 points
Four FP1 F1 outputs: 4 points
Total = 39 points
Gn sports
