How Colton Herta can still secure a super license before F1 2026

With the announcement that Cadillac F1 is guaranteed a place on the starting grid for the F1 2026 season so long as it turns up with a car has come ample speculation about the drivers that might kick off the automaker’s open-wheel foray.

One name has continually been tied to Cadillac entry: American IndyCar driver Colton Herta. Herta doesn’t have enough super license points to qualify for Formula 1 just yet, but today, we’re uncovering a possible path forward for him.

How many super license points does Colton Herta have?

To qualify for a super license, a driver must earn 40 total super license points, which they earn based on their finishing position in a variety of motorsport disciplines as well as by testing an F1 car in Free Practice 1.

Super license points are tallied based on the points assigned to a driver’s finishing position in a championship for three years.

For Herta, that means he’d count his 2025 IndyCar finishing position along with his 2024 and 2023 positions at the close of the season in August.

In 2023, Herta finished 10th in the IndyCar championship, good enough for 1 super license point.

In 2024, he finished 2nd in the IndyCar championship, good enough for 30 super license points.

That means that, right now, Colton Herta has 31 super license points, and will need nine more to have a shot at Formula 1 in 2026.

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How can Colton Herta earn 40 total super license points in 2025?

As mentioned above, there are several ways to earn super license points. The most common way is based on one’s overall finishing position in a specific championship.

Drivers can also earn points for driving at least 100 km in a Free Practice 1 session; this can be done up to 10 times.

If Herta intends to rely entirely on his IndyCar finishing position, then he will need to finish fourth in the championship, which would earn him 10 points.

If Herta aims to compete in free practice sessions, he will have nine Grands Prix in which he could do so at the close of the IndyCar season (though, of course, this is all contingent on a team or two allowing Herta to take over one of their cars on a weekly basis).

That means that:

• If Herta finishes 11th or lower in the 2025 IndyCar championship, he will have to complete nine FP1 sessions.
• If Herta finishes 10th in the 2025 IndyCar championship, he will have to complete eight FP1 sessions.
• If Herta finishes ninth in the 2025 IndyCar championship, he will have to complete seven FP1 sessions.
• If Herta finishes eighth in the 2025 IndyCar championship, he will have to complete six FP1 sessions.
• If Herta finishes seventh in the 2025 IndyCar championship, he will have to complete five FP1 sessions.
• If Herta finishes sixth in the 2025 IndyCar championship, he will have to complete three FP1 sessions.
• If Herta finishes fifth in the 2025 IndyCar championship, he will have to complete one FP1 session.

What are Colton Herta’s chances of securing a super license?

While Colton Herta emerged as a championship contender in 2024, his 2025 IndyCar season has gotten off to a more challenging start. Two races into the year, he sits eighth overall in the championship standings, though the points differential between drivers is still very slim.

Should he need to utilize the FP1 option, it isn’t clear what team Herta would run with. Cadillac isn’t yet fielding a team, which means it would have to convince a different team — likely one also fielding Ferrari engines — to provide Herta with his outings.

That means Ferrari, Haas, and Sauber would be the best options, though it is unclear what other value Herta would provide, particularly as Ferrari has its own driver academy.

At this early stage, it’s hard to say what Herta’s super license chances are — but he’ll be hoping for a clean IndyCar season no matter what.

Read next: Explained: How to score points in IndyCar and win a championship