Nearing the end of the 2022 F1 season, Red Bull had their eyes on Colton Herta to replace the outgoing Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri. However, FIA and their super-license norms prevented AlphaTauri from making the move. Instead, they signed Nyck de Vries. As Herta missed out on realizing his F1 dream by just eight super-license points, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem now has come ahead to promise some leniency towards the American drivers to smoothen up their potential F1 entry.
Herta is one of the best drivers in the United States of America currently and has made a huge name for himself in the IndyCar circuit. There were huge expectations surrounding his F1 entry. Plus, with his compatriot Logan Sargeant getting his chance at Williams, the hype surrounding Herta increased tenfold.
🚨 Colton Herta is longer an option for AlphaTauri ❌
Marko gives his reason:
“He doesn’t get a super license.”
“He doesn’t have the experience either. That would have fit in with us a year ago. But now that’s off the table.” pic.twitter.com/QP5UQhtHIt— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 27, 2023
Unfortunately, his entry was denied and fans from all over the world, especially the US caused a huge uproar online. However, with FIA’s recent stance on American drivers’, the same difficulties could possibly end.
FIA and Ben Sulayem provide updates to ease American drivers’ F1 entry
According to Business F1, the FIA is working to change the existing points system in the American racing series to help them obtain more Superlicense points. It was a system that denied Herta his F1 debut even though he has been racing at the highest level of motorsport in America.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA President has promised a “continuous commitment to the evolution and refinement of its regulatory process.” In a meeting, the FIA involved all the ten F1 teams and the Formula 1 group to discuss a possible solution.
Colton Herta walled so that Alex Palou can run?
Credits: Business F1 pic.twitter.com/SbADEUkHWT
— FastestDNF (@dnf_fastest) August 11, 2023
With Herta’s chance already gone for now, the driver who’s next in line for F1 entry is Alex Palou. Palou has recently caught massive attention after his performances with Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar series.
Will Palou face the same fate as Colton Herta?
Palou, the Spanish motorsport driver has been heavily featured in the news as of late. After Nyck de Vries’ poor performances, rumors of Palou taking over surfaced all over the internet. However, the seat ultimately went to ex Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.
Apart from AlphaTauri, multiple teams were interested in the promising 26-year-old driver. Even though the interest remains, he will remain behind in IndyCar, at least for now.
As things stand, Alex Palou, even though he is a Spanish, but still will need to make sure he gets the best out of new Superlicence system put forward by the FIA and Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Additionally, Palou himself has stated that he would love to join F1. He would love to follow in the footsteps of his country’s legendary driver Fernando Alonso.
