Colton Herta remained one point short of the 40 needed for a Formula 1 superlicence after his Mexico first-practice run, The Race reported. ChrisMedlandF1 reported that the FIA had confirmed Herta had 39 points and needed one more.
The update reversed an earlier account of the session. Motorsport initially posted that Herta had secured the final points needed for F1 eligibility. Hours later, it posted that he needed another point.
The Race attributes the mistaken calculation to IndyCar’s published 2025 standings. It reported that IndyCar’s website had listed Herta sixth, ahead of Felix Rosenqvist, despite their points tie. The Race reported that Rosenqvist had more second-place finishes, putting him ahead of Herta in the results IndyCar distributed at the end of 2025. The Race reported that the website was corrected after a reporter flagged the error earlier that week.
According to The Race, Cadillac ran Herta in Mexico believing he was one point short before the session, after verifying its calculation with the FIA in July. The outlet’s own calculation had put him two points short. Its breakdown gives Herta one point for his 2023 IndyCar result, 30 for 2024, four for his seventh-place finish in 2025 and four for his 2026 F1 practice outings: 39 in all.
The Race quotes a rule under which completing at least 100 kilometers in an F1 free-practice session earns an additional point, provided no penalty points are imposed. It calls another Cadillac practice outing for Herta this year highly likely, but does not report one as scheduled.
