The American described the experience as: “really special”. Herta was invited to McLaren testing by chief, Andreas Seidl, as he hoped for the American to gain, “valuable experience” in a Formula One car.
Following the testing, the driver was asked if he had the ability to compete in Formula One – “Yes, you can’t say no to that question or else you wouldn’t be a professional driver. I do think I’m fast enough. Whether people agree or not, only time will tell.”
He then followed up with:
“And hopefully I get some more chances in the car and hopefully I can kind of show that. I did feel comfortable, I could feel the limit; maybe not the consistency – that will come with a few more days – but I feel that I was close.”
Herta racing in Indy Car in 2021. Image credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/51221425486)
From Indy Car to Formula One
The differences between an F1 car and an Indy car are endless, but both machines are built with the same intention – to be the fastest car on the grid. So Herta had no problems adjusting to last year’s McLaren.
“Great two days getting acclimated to the car, which is obviously quite a bit different to what I’m used to driving, a little bit of a different driving style, but the engineers were very helpful getting me up to speed. What a car. What a car to drive!”
The toughest part about driving a Formula One car is commonly thought to be the handling difficulties. While a Formula One car and an Indy Car reach similar top speeds, an F1 car can reach those speeds much quicker. However, Herta had no issues with the changes and he embraced the differences.
“It handled beautifully. I was able to make some set of adjustments in the afternoon and get it more to my liking. It was good just to kind of see what these cars are all about and see the physicality differences to an IndyCar.”
“We were able to go through a lot of different things, a lot of different balance changes mechanically, aerodynamically, with the car. And then inside the car itself I got to play with all the tools, diff settings and all that sort of stuff.”
He even made direct comparisons between the McLaren and his Indy Car.
“It was pretty cool to see the balance changes and what you can do with the car just inside the car, which is quite a bit more than what we’re able to do in the IndyCar. So yeah, it was awesome. If you have a problem in one corner, you can adjust it at the flick of a finger.”
Formula One bound ?
Lately, Rumours have been circulating about Daniel Ricciardo’s future in Formula One. However, the Australian stopped them with a fiery social media post which means the Indy Car driver may have missed the chance to drive for McLaren. Along with other young drivers, such as Oscar Piastri, Herta may be waiting a long time to race in Formula One
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