Colton Herta, McLaren, Algarve International Circuit, 2022

McLaren won’t hold Herta back from F1 opportunities elsewhere – Brown

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In the round-up: McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says he will not prevent test driver Colton Herta from pursuing race opportunities in Formula 1 outside of the team.

In brief

McLaren won’t ‘hold Herta back’ from F1 opportunities elsewhere – Brown

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Colton Herta tested a 2021 McLaren Formula 1 car in Portugal in July as part of a programme with the team. After McLaren confirmed Oscar Piastri as Lando Norris’s team mate for 2023, Brown said they would not prevent Herta from pursuing other F1 opportunities with rival teams.

“I think we would never want to hold a driver back,” Brown said. “Racing drivers want to drive. I think it’s admirable that someone like Oscar sits out a year – we’ve seen Esteban [Ocon] sit out a year – but we want to encourage racing drivers to race.”

Newgarden hit by six place engine grid penalty

Josef Newgarden will start Sunday’s IndyCar race at Portland from six places further back on the grid than he qualifies after taking a fifth engine of the season ahead of Friday’s practice sessions. The Penske driver sits three points behind team mate Will Power in the drivers’ standings with just two races remaining in the series.

First practice at the track, which is ongoing, was heavily delayed by a red flag caused by a video screen collapsing (see below).

‘Welcome to McLaren, Oscar’, says Norris

Lando Norris says he is looking forward to racing alongside Oscar Piastri when 2021 Formula 2 champion joins him at McLaren in 2023.

The Alpine junior driver has been formally confirmed at McLaren for next season following the decision of the FIA’s contract recognition board. Piastri will be Norris’s third team mate at McLaren since making his debut in 2019 and will be his first team mate younger than him.

“I look forward to it,” said Norris. “Another new year, someone new to work with.

“It’s always different for every driver to work with someone different and of course it will be a new challenge for everyone, including himself. So yeah, welcome to the team Oscar.”

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Comment of the day

With Christian Horner asserting that any manufacturer joining them in Formula 1 would have to do so on Red Bull’s terms, reader Pedro Andrade says Horner is fully entitled to do so…

I’m not particularly a fan of Red Bull, but they do have:

– the F1 champion, which is one of the best ever talents
– the best F1 designer ever
– huge up-to-date facilities
– huge workforce
– a recent history of success (five title-years in the past 15 years)
– a fully-fledged young driver programme

When Horner says Red Bull is in the driving seat, he isn’t joking, Porsche would be mad to not accept this team as is.
Pedro Andrade

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Tim C!

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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3 comments on “McLaren won’t hold Herta back from F1 opportunities elsewhere – Brown”

  1. Profile Photo

    Jere (@jerejj)
    3rd September 2022, 7:46

    Of course, but Herta first needs to become SL-eligible before even considering.
    The only way for him to reach eligibility in time for the next season-opener is belatedly getting the SL pts he deserved from finishing 2nd in the 2018 IndyLights campaign, which he didn’t get at the time because the competitor amount was insufficient.
    Nothing wrong with handing pts belatedly itself as long as the other affected drivers also get the pts they otherwise would’ve received from positions that grant SL pts for fairness’ sake.

    1. S
      3rd September 2022, 10:28

      Nothing wrong with handing pts belatedly

      I completely disagree.
      It wasn’t worth points then, so nobody gets points. You can’t re-write history just because you don’t like the way things turned out.

  2. Profile Photo

    bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
    3rd September 2022, 7:52

    I think COTD is spot on; I don’t know what Red Bull’s engine department looks like as of now – but it’s going to be a huge benefit however developed it is. Porsche comes with plenty of expertise and a great brand name, but Red Bull are the ones who actually know how to get it done in F1.

    Is a championship with 8 cars really a championship? It’s the sort of number you’d pass over in an online lobby.

    Man; got some feels for Daniel. The toughest part of this weekend is going to be the constant questions. Some would shy away, but he’s doing it. I’d like to give him a fist bump or a hug. In reality the Oscar / Alpine contract decision is none of his business, nor who was talking to who or when. If you got sacked (and he did), who comes in after you is really nothing to do with you. Most get to grab their coat and go, not months of constant questions whilst still turning up and making the tea.

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