Inside Colton Herta’s Cadillac F1 Audition — and How He Compared to Perez

Colton Herta’s fifth FP1 outing in Mexico was a serious 2027 Cadillac audition. Cadillac gave him a programme close to Sergio Perez’s; he ended nearly a second adrift but impressed with his long-run consistency. Yet a points-calculation error still leaves him short of the 40 needed for an F1 superlicence.

Why it matters:

Cadillac is weighing Herta against Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda and Mercedes reserve Frederik Vesti for the seat alongside Perez. Pace matters, but so does adapting from IndyCar’s aggressive style to F1’s precision — and clearing the superlicence hurdle.

The details:

• Herta’s best was 1m21.365s on seven-lap-old mediums, 0.970s off Perez; best-sector maths cuts the gap to 0.817s.
• Turn 12 cost roughly four tenths, his minimum speed 13km/h lower than Perez’s. His long run was more consistent but still about eight tenths slower on average.
• F1’s lack of power steering demands smoother inputs. “In IndyCar you can maybe get away with a little bit more of a raggedy style,” Herta said.
• Cadillac has already run him beyond the four mandated rookie sessions and will give him another to secure the final point.
• Vesti was 0.111s off Kimi Antonelli and targeted the Cadillac seat.

What’s next:

Herta hopes the superlicence becomes “that monkey off my back” so he can push fully. Cadillac’s call is expected within weeks — and the sooner the better for a driver who knows there may be no second F1 chance.