IndyCar sensation Colton Herta will be the only choice to replace Pierre Gasly at Red Bull camp if the latter leaves AlphaTauri in 2023.
With Fernando Alonso leaving Alpine at the end of this year, Pierre Gasly has emerged as the leading candidate to replace him. Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has declared they will not come in Gasly’s way if the Frenchman gets an impressive offer.
But it will surely leave a vacuum at AlphaTauri. So far, Red Bull’s driver academy has not seen any of its young prospects performing up to their potential. Thus, they are ready to see some candidates away from its house.
IndyCar star Colton Herta has surprisingly come into Red Bull’s radar and is inching closer to joining them. But there is a catch. The American race driver who is having a rising career in IndyCar and is currently valued at $1.5 million is yet to fetch the required superlicense points.
In this, neither the FIA nor Formula is ready to bend the rules. Thus, the American star needs to get a few more points before he is allowed to race in F1. But he won’t be getting one if he just sticks to IndyCar races this season.
Herta currently has 32 super license points, so would need some extra FP1 outings or receive special dispensation from the FIA to be eligible for the seat.
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) October 9, 2021
However, it’s also reported that the governing body is looking into some credibility in Herta’s case to grant him a superlicense. He is only missing eight points from the minimum required number.
Also read: Majority F1 teams suspect Red Bull generate massive pace from its rear
Christian Horner only sees Colton Herta as Pierre Gasly replacement
With limited choices in front of AlphaTauri, Red Bull boss Christian Horner sees Herta as the only option. meanwhile, it is also reported that an agreement between the two parties has already been reached.
Autosport asked if there was an alternative to Herta. Horner said: “I think Pierre [Gasly] is doing a good job within AlphaTauri. So I don’t think there will be a desire to change if there wasn’t an interesting option available.”
the source interpreted that if they don’t sign Herta, then Gasly would be needed to stay. On the other hand, Horner refused that they see Felipe Drugovich as an alternate, who is currently leading the F2 standings and recently met Helmut Marko.
The Brazilian isn’t associated with any F1 team and could be an interesting catch for the teams at the bottom. It remains to be seen how this drivers’ market concludes.
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