Montoya questions whether switch to F1 is ''smart'' for Herta

Now that Cadillac is on track to enter Formula 1 in 2026, it is time for the new team to start thinking seriously about who its drivers will be.

Ever since Michael Andretti started the project to bring a new team to F1, which has since evolved into the Cadillac entry backed by General Motors and Dan Towriss’ TWG Group, Colton Herta‘s name has been mentioned time and time again.

In a recent interview with Motorsport.com, Mario Andretti, who remains associated with the Cadillac project as a board director, insisted that Herta was the leading candidate to drive one of the new team’s cars.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who enjoyed a successful career in both F1 and IndyCar, understands why Herta is attractive to Cadillac.

“There’s a chance he could do it, 100 percent”, Montoya told Motorsport.com via Oddspedia when asked about the chances of Herta racing in F1 with the Cadillac team.

Colton Herta, Andretti Global

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

“I think they would have to do a good job preparing him. I think it would need a lot of work doing tests and everything, like everybody does with the old cars, to do enough miles to prepare him for the year ahead, but I honestly do believe that they could do it, and I think that’s their hope”.

The two-time Indy500 winner then hinted at a scenario that has not yet been publicly discussed, namely that Herta could join Cadillac as a reserve rather than as a race driver.

“I don’t know if they are going to put him in to start, or if they will put him in in a year or two. Maybe they would start with someone different, and put him in as a reserve driver, and then put him in, or they would go with him from the beginning, I don’t know what they’re thinking, but I believe Herta would be one of the logical choices for them because he’s from the same group”, he said.

However, Montoya has warned just how much Herta would be risking by leaving his current spot in one of IndyCar’s top teams in Andretti Global for a completely new F1 team.

“It would be a really nice story if Colton was there, but he’s already really well established in America, I don’t know how smart it would be to come in [to F1] at the position he’s at in America. To change everything and risk everything for F1. He’d be entering a situation that’s not easy, where they don’t know [at Cadillac] how competitive they’re going to be, how fast they’re going to be. He’s in one of the best teams in America, where he has a chance to win races every week, and would suddenly change to be in the bottom five every week to say he is in F1. It’s not easy.”

Colton Herta, Andretti Global

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

Montoya pointed out that the good reputation Herta enjoys in the US today could change if he fails in F1.

“The problem is that if he leaves, they’re going to replace him with someone,” said the former Williams and McLaren driver. “If that person does really well and Colton doesn’t do well in Formula 1, there won’t be a place for him.

“There’s a risk, and they’ll probably say, ‘Yes, the seat is always yours’, but if someone comes in and is doing a better job than he was doing, then suddenly the seat isn’t so much his. Things in motorsport change very quickly.”