Dan Towriss told Colton Herta to ‘never speak’ about F1 again if he turned down 2026 F2 opportunity

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Dan Towriss gave Colton Herta an ultimatum regarding a potential move to Formula 1 in the future.

After seven years of racing in IndyCar, Colton Herta made his Formula 2 debut at the Australian Grand Prix with Hitech as he begins a new stage of his racing career.

During the Australian Grand Prix, Herta finished in 16th place in the Sprint Race on Saturday, before picking up points in the Feature Race with a seventh-place finish.

The American driver decided to switch from racing in America to the Formula 2 paddock after signing on to become the test driver for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team.

The ultimatum Colton Herta received regarding an F1 future

Whilst appearing on F1 Beyond The Grid, the CEO of the Cadillac F1 Team, Dan Towriss, discussed the acquisition of Herta as the team’s test driver.

The American businessman revealed that he discussed a move to Formula 2 with Herta, and told the American driver he needed to move to F2 in 2026 or ‘never speak’ about F1 again.

Towriss said, “Colton did not have the super license points, so even if he wanted to jump into the F1 seat, that was not going to be a possibility. But I think it was important for Colton to come into the sport in the right way, the want to learn tracks and tyres, and to respect European open-wheel racing. I think even now he is learning, or re-learning, that back from his lower Formula days.

“I love that it is his approach to show the respect, to learn what he needs to learn, and to build a body of work to show that he belongs in Formula 1, whether that is through FP1s or what he does on an F2 track. For Colton to take that step and step out of the IndyCar spotlight to do that, it shows massive amounts of bravery and massive amounts about Colton to be able to do that.”

He later added, “I presented him with an opportunity. Last year, we were at a race, and we had talked about Formula 1 for a while, so I told him, ‘You can stay in IndyCar, or the path to Formula 1 is through the F2 route, and if you say no to that, never speak to me about Formula 1 again.’

“To Colton’s credit, he did not make a decision right away; he took about a month to really think about it and count the cost of the life he had and the career he had been building in IndyCar, versus the opportunity to go to Formula 1. He is a racer, he saw an opening, and he is going for it.”

Cadillac’s debut in Formula 1 at the Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix was not only Herta’s debut in Formula 2, but also Cadillac’s debut in Formula 1 with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

In their first Grand Prix as a team, Cadillac had a driver reach the chequered flag, but it was Bottas who failed to finish due to a fuel system issue, but Perez managed to finish the race in 16th.

Although Perez was able to finish the Australian Grand Prix with Cadillac, Perez was still noticeably ‘not happy at all’ with how the debut weekend went.

Ahead of the season, it had already been noted that Perez seemed ‘more concerned’ about what could be a difficult 2026 season than Bottas was.