Colton Herta is an American open-wheel racing driver. Currently competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. The 22-year-old made some Formula 1 news after Mclaren signed him as a development driver in the 2022 season. IndyCar series features cars somewhat similar to Formula 1 cars, and it makes sense for Mclaren to test out the American.
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He is a race winner and can become the next best thing coming from America into F1. And if Colton’s tweet from today is anything to go by, he definitely has fast reflexes.
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Colton Herta escapes a crash
Colton shared a tweet displaying a video on a laptop screen. The video is of Colton himself escaping a potentially fatal crash before he almost gets collected by the barriers.
We see Colton on the track, testing out his car in pretty extreme conditions. But the American narrowly escaped crashing into fellow racer Will Power.
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Colton, with his razor-sharp reflexes, will avoid but nearly flew into the barriers. And would like a beer for his troubles. That’s the least Will can do, right?
Man I owe you more than a beer… so glad that wasn’t worse. I wasn’t pushing and it just let go. Never expected that.
— Will Power (@12WillPower) April 21, 2022
Well, Will agrees! He was quick to reply to Colton’s tweet and says he owes him more than a beer. Presumably, both drivers recognized the potential severity of the crash. And we’re grateful everybody is fine.
Watch this story: From Lewis Hamilton Being Called Out By Former Champ To Mclaren’s Awesome Pit Crew
However, Colton wasn’t alone on the track. Following him was an entire group of drivers. But thankfully, as seen in a tweet from another IndyCar driver, Marcus Ericsson, everyone avoided a collision.
Colton Herta’s incident was the third of the day and brought the test to a premature end. A wise decision by IndyCar officials. Especially considering the conditions and incidents during the testing.
McLaren sees in relief
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Mclaren team principal, Andreas Seidl, wants to see in relief. He will be happy to know that his potential future driver is not hurt right now.
BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 27: McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl looks on from the pitwall during Day Two of F1 Winter Testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 27, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
According to the new Formula 1 sporting regulations, teams may test one-year-old cars. So Mclaren will use the MCL35M to test Colton’s ability behind a Formula 1 car.
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The same MCL35M which helped the Mclaren squad take fourth in the constructors’ championship last year. So we know it’s a good car with a decent pace compared to Mclaren’s MCL36, which is seriously lacking at least in terms of performance.
Only time will tell if we will see an American on the F1 grid anytime soon.
