A Colton Herta move to Formula 1 is edging closer as the FIA considers whether to grant him a superlicence.
The American has been closely linked to a switch from IndyCar and recently completed his first test with McLaren in a 2021 car at Portimao.
But now Herta is understood to be in AlphaTauri’s sights, with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko targeting him as a potential replacement to free up Pierre Gasly to join Alpine.
Another less likely possibility is he could join McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo, but that depends on the Oscar Piastri dispute ending badly for the Woking-based team.
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A big caveat in all this is the Californian has yet to amass the necessary 40 points required to automatically be eligible for an F1 superlicence.
In fact, based on his best three results in the past four years, Herta only has 32 points and cannot finish fourth in the IndyCar standings this year, which is the position he would have needed to achieve the additional eight points.
As a result, the FIA is now having to assess whether the 22-year-old should be granted an exemption to that rule.
This can be done via a clause in the rules that state a driver “who has scored a minimum of 30 superlicence points but judged at the sole determination of the FIA as unable to qualify under any of a) to c) above due to circumstances outside their control or reasons of force majeure, while participating in one or more of the championships listed in Supplement 1.”
Herta’s best opportunity to meet that would actually come by trying to gain a superlicence to race this year.
That’s because his second place in the 2018 Indy Lights championship would grant him 12 points which, in addition to his 20 points for third and eight points for fifth in IndyCar in 2020 and 2021, would take him up to the 40-point threshold.
But his 2018 points are not counted due to a lack of entries in Indy Lights that year, a potential argument he could make under the force majeure criteria.
To do that though, AlphaTauri or McLaren would have to then race him in one of the final eight races, meaning one of their current drivers would need to step aside.
A potential risk with granting Herta such an exemption though would be setting a precedent, and potentially discouraging young drivers from taking the now established ladder of F3 and F2 before F1.
So a big decision awaits the FIA.