Colton Herta says he won’t fight the FIA’s decision to keep him out of Formula 1 for 2023.
Although Red Bull wanted to facilitate Pierre Gasly’s move to Alpine next year by filling the Alpha Tauri seat with the Indycar star, Herta did not qualify for a mandatory F1 super license.
"I understand the FIA’s position based on the current points structure," he is quoted by the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
Red Bull tried to argue ’force majeure’ based on the covid situation of the past few years, and had hoped that F1 test and practice session outings might also change the FIA mind.
But Herta insists he did not want to be given a special exemption.
"Personally, I think the points rating for Indycar is too low," he said.
Another Red Bull idea was to get Herta’s super license points up from 32 to the required 40 by funding drives for him in minor championships over the winter.
"I had opportunities to earn extra points by driving in other classes," Herta confirms, "but I’ve been a professional driver here for four years and haven’t even considered that."
Some of Herta’s Indycar rivals have spoken out about his lost F1 opportunity.
"F1 is an elitist sport," said Graham Rahal. "They don’t want us. Remember that.
"They want US companies’ money, they want wealthy US individuals’ money. But they don’t care about the rest. Always has been that way, always will be."
Even McLaren boss and American Zak Brown thinks Formula 1 needs to revisit the rigid super license system.
"If someone like Colton who’s won a lot of Indycar races isn’t eligible for a super license then I think we need to review the super license system," he said.