Colton Herta

IndyCar was ingrained from an early age

Colton Herta is an American IndyCar driver who knew from a young age what he wanted: to become a race car driver. Not surprisingly, the former Indy Lights driver is the son of ex-IndyCar driver Bryan Herta, who currently fields a car for Marco Andretti in the Indianapolis 500 with the team Andretti/Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti. Bryan Herta's son competed in the Indy Lights Championship in 2017 and 2018 for Andretti Steinbrenner Racing.

Although Herta missed out on the title in both 2017 and 2018, the American still showed considerable talent. In his two seasons as an Indy Lights driver, he claimed six wins, four of which were consecutive in the 2018 season. After finishing third in the championship in 2017, Colton Herta became vice-champion in 2018, finishing behind Patricio O'Ward.

IndyCar debut in 2018 with Harding Racing

On September 16, 2018, Herta made his IndyCar debut with Harding Racing at Sonoma Raceway. In 2019, the son of Bryan Herta made his full-time NTT IndyCar Series debut with the same team, which had since been renamed Harding Steinbrenner Racing. Herta made a strong impression, narrowly missing out on the Rookie of the Year title. He finished his first NTT IndyCar Series season in seventh place, with three pole positions and two wins to his name.

Move to Andretti Autosport

In 2020, Herta returned to the same car as the previous year, but this time it was no longer under Harding Steinbrenner Racing, now with full technical support from Andretti Autosport. After his highly impressive debut season in 2019, the young American fully joined Michael Andretti's team starting in 2020. Herta finished that year in third place in the overall standings. In 2021, he followed up with a fifth-place finish, scoring three wins, and was seen as a rising star.

Challenging years in 2022 and 2023

However, expectations around Herta started to fade in the years that followed. Despite securing one victory in 2022, he slowly slipped down the championship standings, finishing the year in tenth place. Things did not improve in 2023—Herta failed to win a single race and again finished tenth in the championship.

Resurgence in 2024

After two challenging seasons in 2022 and 2023, Herta made a clear step forward in 2024. By consistently performing—Herta finished outside the top ten only four times—and securing two victories, he concluded the season with a strong second place in the championship.