IndyCar race winner and new Cadillac Formula 1 test driver Colton Herta's switch to Formula 2 has been finalised, with a deal with Hitech now in place for 2026.
Herta has his eyes set on a future in F1 with the Cadillac team and was announced in his test driver role with the squad earlier this year.
However, he knows that his hopes of earning a promotion to an F1 race seat eventually rest on him immersing himself with the team and the European racing scene rather than continuing to compete in the United States.
Being a part of F1 weekends, learning European tracks, and getting experience of Pirelli tyres will help fast-track his knowledge as he sees an opportunity to step up to grand prix racing at some point.
After months of discussions with F2 teams, it was announced on Tuesday that Herta will join Hitech.
Speaking about his deal, Herta said: "I'm incredibly excited to officially be joining F2 for the 2026 Formula 2 season.
"This is an amazing opportunity to develop my skills in European racing and to measure myself against some of the best young drivers in the world.
"Racing on the same weekends as Formula 1 will give me first-hand experience of that environment and help me grow as part of the Cadillac F1 family. I'm very grateful to Cadillac and Hitech for their trust and support and I can't wait to get started."
Herta will twin his F2 racing ambitions alongside his test driver role, which will include time in Cadillac's simulator as well as some FP1 outings at grands prix.
Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss believed it critical that Herta had shown willingness to embark on the challenge of F2 to help better prepare him for a potential future in F1.
"Competing in F2 will not only strengthen his racecraft in the European environment but also allow for greater integration with our team as he continues to support us with his testing and simulator duties," he said.
"We are proud of Colton's commitment to success in European racing, and we look forward to seeing him take on this exciting new challenge with Hitech - a team with a proven history of success in junior categories."
Herta's foray into F2 next season will not be his first experience of racing in Europe.
He was a race winner in MSA Formula (now British F4) in 2015, took wins and pole positions during a Euroformula Open campaign in 2016, and the same year contested six races in the BRDC British F3 series (now GB3) - winning at Brands Hatch.
Hitech's junior series pedigree
Samarth Kanal
Founded in 2002 then relaunched in 2015 by Oli Oakes - the short-lived Alpine F1 team principal - Hitech is a consistent points scorer in F2 and the team has picked up more points than its rivals in the last five races, putting it in contention for the teams’ title. Invicta Racing is however the team to beat in that regard.
Both Williams F1 junior Luke Browning, who picked up the Monza feature race win and a podium in the Baku sprint race, and Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic (pictured above), who won the Baku sprint race then was third in the following feature, have enjoyed this uptick in form. Browning has been more consistent and is also an outsider for the drivers' title in third in the standings.
That recent form speaks to Hitech having understood more about the tricky, peaky, F2 platform - and bodes well for next season.
Herta's move to Hitech was long mooted as a possibility - and it's very likely that neither Browning, who might be looking outside F2, nor Beganovic, will continue with the team in 2026.
Hitech is yet to confirm Herta's team-mate. The team's Toyota Gazoo Racing link is very likely to shape Hitech's F2 driver line-up for 2026.
It has previously run a number of Red Bull juniors - including both current Racing Bulls F1 drivers, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson - in F2 and F3 and won the 2023 Macau Grand Prix, the final edition of the race using the FIA F3 car, with Browning.
