Colton Herta Gets Cadillac FP1 Shot in Hungary

Cadillac has confirmed that Colton Herta will replace Valtteri Bottas in Friday’s FP1 session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, handing the American his second Formula 1 practice outing of the season while his bid for a future race seat remains blocked by Super Licence rules.

Herta last appeared for the team in Barcelona six weeks ago, when he took over Sergio Perez’s car for his first FP1 run. His return in Budapest continues Cadillac’s young-driver programme and also counts toward Formula 1’s requirement for teams to field rookie drivers in practice sessions.

Herta said the outing matters as much for Cadillac’s longer-term work as for his own progress. Colton Herta, Cadillac test driver, said: “It’s very exciting to get another chance in FP1.” He added that it is “a good opportunity for my personal experience, but the ultimate goal is, of course, to help the team with its development.”

That development focus is heightened by the timing of the run. Herta said “it’s been six weeks since I was last in the car and there’s been a lot of evolution in that time,” making Budapest a chance to sample a changed package and feed information back into Cadillac’s program. He said his job is “to help the race drivers have the best possible Hungarian Grand Prix – but also provide the feedback that will aid the team in its long-term development aims and give me a better baseline in future sessions.”

The complication for Herta is that extra F1 mileage does not solve the issue standing between him and a full-time seat. He has 34 Super Licence points and needs 40 to be eligible for a Formula 1 race contract, leaving him six short of the threshold.

That leaves his Formula 2 season carrying immediate weight. To add the points he needs, Herta must finish at least eighth in the 2026 F2 championship. After eight race weekends, he is 16th in the standings, a position that seriously weakens his route into a race seat despite Cadillac’s clear willingness to keep investing track time in him.

So while the Hungary session gives Herta another step inside Cadillac’s F1 operation, it currently strengthens his value as a development driver more than it changes his short-term prospects of graduating into a full-time Formula 1 seat.