Colton Herta faces super licence shortfall as Cadillac seeks extra F1 practice slots

American driver Colton Herta is short of the 40 points required for a Formula 1 super licence, having accumulated only 35 points from his Formula 2 results. With his standing at 16th in the F2 championship, he is unlikely to earn the needed points through race results alone.

Cadillac can help Herta by allocating additional free‑practice sessions in Formula 1, each offering a point if he completes at least 100 km without penalties. The team could give him up to ten such sessions, but doing so would require regular drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez to sit out two extra practice slots each season. Even with four scheduled sessions already confirmed, Herta would still finish the year two points shy of the licence threshold, and 30 of his current points will expire after 2026, worsening the shortfall for a 2027 debut.