Colton Herta stated that he does not want to get a Formula 1 seat as “an exception”.
Herta was the favorite for Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri seat in case the Frenchman goes to Alpine in 2023. However, the American driver does not have enough superlicense points.
The FIA were evaluating the possibility of giving Herta an exemption and reportedly decided not to do so. As a result, Red Bull stopped their efforts in getting the 22-year-old to F1.
“I can understand the FIA’s position. I just feel that IndyCar is underrepresented in the superlicense points structure,” Herta told Motorsport.com.
“But from their point of view, with the current points structure, I get it. And I don’t want to come in as ‘an exception’.”
Herta had an opportunity to score more points by competing in the Formula Regional Asian Championship in the off-season.
When asked whether he had considered participating in the series, Herta said: “I think it was possible to do something like [the Formula Regional Asian Championship], but I feel like I shouldn’t have to go race in a feeder series after I’ve been a professional driver for four years. So I didn’t fully consider it.
“Zak Brown said he’d be interested to run me in FP1s, but he wouldn’t want to put me in a McLaren if I had a contract with AlphaTauri: it’s kind of going against your team!
“I appreciate all the effort Zak has made for me – he’s been great to me. There’s been a lot of stuff in the news, but he’s been completely transparent to me all along, and it’s been great to work with him.”
