Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss has revealed that test driver Colton Herta was previously offered a contract by Red Bull. It took the American outfit a month to convince him to reject the offer from Milton Keynes. Herta made the switch to Formula 2 this year after a successful career in IndyCar. In the feeder series, he is being prepared for an F1 career with Cadillac.
Read more Starting grid sprint race Chinese GP: Mercedes dictates, Red Bull in trouble
Towriss explained that Herta made an impression on other Formula 1 teams early on. “I think many people don’t know how well Colton actually did,” he recently stated in the Beyond The Grid podcast. “Think back to the whole Sauber story. We once had the intention to buy that team. We sent Colton to Hinwil at the time to test on an F1 simulator; he was immediately lightning fast! Within an hour and a half, he was faster than their current Formula 1 drivers. Later, a test at McLaren followed, and based on the report, he drove fantastically there as well.”
Red Bull contract for Herta?
According to Towriss, Herta caught Red Bull’s eye through these guest appearances. The American was even offered a contract with Max Verstappen’s team. “During those sessions for McLaren, he performed so well that Red Bull made him an offer,” Towriss revealed. “He suddenly came home with a contract. It probably took me a month to convince Colton and his team not to sign that contract and to stay with Cadillac,” he grinned. Towriss concluded: “Colton has an impressive track record in which he has shown a lot of potential and aptitude for Formula 1.”
Read more Red Bull trying to crack F1 regulations: ‘Not quite there yet’, says Pierre Waché
Herta’s first F2 weekend did not yet leave him satisfied. After a seventeenth-place finish in the sprint race in Melbourne, the American was in better form during the feature race. He fought his way to a good seventh place and took his first points in the junior class, although he saw plenty of room for improvement himself. “Not good enough,” it sounded after the weekend. “It was okay, but it could have been a lot better if I could have avoided a few clear mistakes,” Herta clarified. “The only positive thing is that we scored points today and that the team did a great job.”
Read more Early debut in China? Everything about Ferrari’s ‘macarena rear wing’
Read everything about the Chinese GP here
