Colton Thomas Herta (; born March 30, 2000) is an American racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Hitech with support from Cadillac. Herta competed in the IndyCar Series from 2018 to 2025.
Herta is the son of IndyCar and Champ Car driver Bryan Herta, and the youngest person ever to win an IndyCar Series race. He is test driver for the Cadillac Formula One Team whilst competing in FIA Formula 2 for 2026 with Hitech Grand Prix.
Herta made his competitive karting debut in 2010 at the age of ten, racing karts in the SKUSA and IKF series, although he had been karting since the age of six. He made his single-seater racing debut at the age of thirteen, finishing second in the SBF2000 Winter Series.
In 2014, Herta made his professional racing debut in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, finishing fifteenth in the championship despite missing the opening weekend due to age requirements. In the same year, Herta made his international formula racing debut at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia with the Meritus-run AsiaCup Series, taking part in one event where he won one race win and three podium finishes. Herta also made a one-off appearance in the Global RallyCross Championship Lites, being the youngest driver to compete in the series.
In 2015, Herta made his debut in the UK-based MSA Formula series, as the youngest driver and the only American on a grid that consisted mostly of Britons, and got his first win in the second race at Snetterton Circuit in August, thus helping the United States win the Nations Cup. He went on to collect three more victories throughout the season, finishing third overall.
For 2016, Herta was planning to move to the newly renamed BRDC British F3 series, but was too young to compete at the opening round. Wanting to complete a full season, he made the switch to the Euroformula Open Championship, staying with Carlin and finished third in points, with four victories, six podium finishes, and five pole positions. Herta went on to compete in six British F3 events, earning three podium finishes including a victory at Brands Hatch.
In 2017, Herta joined forces with the newly formed Steinbrenner Racing to pilot the No. 98 car in the Indy Lights Series. He started the year strong with a second place finish in the first race at St. Petersburg street circuit and followed it up with a Sunday victory; Colton's first win in Indy Lights. He got his second victory at the next event at Barber Motorsports Park, the series' four-hundredth race. Herta won Rookie of the Year and finished third in the drivers championship.
In 2018, Herta remained in Indy Lights. He won four races, including all three held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (both races of the GP of Indianapolis and the Freedom 100 on the speedway). Herta finished second in points to his Andretti teammate Patricio O'Ward.
In September 2018, Herta made his IndyCar Series debut at the season finale in Sonoma, driving for Harding Racing.
For the 2019 IndyCar season, Herta signed to drive the No. 88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing car. Herta was the first IndyCar Series driver born in the 2000s to start a race. On March 24, 2019, at the age of eighteen, Herta became the youngest-ever winner in IndyCar history by winning the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas. He qualified fifth for the Indianapolis 500, but retired after just four laps after a gearbox failure. On June 22, 2019, at the age of nineteen, Herta became the youngest-ever pole-sitter at Road America. He won again at Laguna Seca, and finished seventh in the overall standings, just five points behind Rookie of the Year Felix Rosenqvist.
Herta again drove the No. 88 car for Harding Steinbrenner Racing in 2020, with additional backing from Andretti Autosport. Herta finished seventh in the opening round of the 2020 IndyCar season at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished eighth at the Indianapolis 500. On September 13, 2020, Herta won the second of two races held at Mid-Ohio. He scored a runner-up finish at the Indianapolis road course's Saturday race. With seven top-fives in fourteen races, he ranked third in points.
Going into 2021, Herta was seen as the strongest challenger in the Andretti stable to Scott Dixon for the IndyCar title. Herta would also move from the No. 88 Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Racing car to the No. 26 Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian car with backing from Indianapolis 500 title sponsor Gainbridge. Herta started his season caught up in an accident caused by Josef Newgarden in Alabama but earned his first win of the season at St. Petersburg, his first win on a street circuit. He would secure two podium finishes before his second win of the season; a second-place at Road America and third place at the second round on the IMS Road Course. He was frequently beset by poor strategy, mechanical issues, and driving errors. Most notable of these was at the inaugural round in Nashville; Herta would qualify on pole position for the race, lead most of the race, lost the lead under caution to Marcus Ericsson, and crashed out of the race attempting to take the lead back from Ericsson in the closing laps. Herta was running in the lead at Gateway before a half-shaft failure during a pit stop forced his retirement. Herta would pick up his second win of the season at Laguna Seca, where he led all but one lap of the race to win from pole. He finished the season off with a come from behind victory on The Streets of Long Beach when he started fourteenth and worked his way rapidly through the field to take the lead from Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon to win his third race of the season. He ultimately finished the season fifth in the championship standings.
After intense speculation that he would be making a move to Formula One, Andretti Autosport and Herta announced that he would be racing in IndyCar in 2022, partnering Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean, and Devlin DeFrancesco. Herta struggled in the initial rounds of the season, including crashing after losing the lead at Long Beach, but picked up his first win of the season at the GMR Grand Prix. Herta was in place to win the second race at the IMS road course before a mechanical failure would cause him to have to retire the car for the day and his teammate Alexander Rossi would win.
Herta initially signed a multi-year contract to remain with Andretti Autosport, though this would be later to be extended to 2027. Herta's 2023 would end with three top-five finishes, including a podium at Toronto. He also took back-to-back poles at Mid-Ohio and Road America, where he would also lead the most laps. Road America proved to be the closest Herta would come to a win in 2023, dominating the race before dropping to fifth due to a poor strategy call forcing him to save fuel to reach the finish. The season concluded with Herta tenth in the standings again after a tough second half including two DNFs at Nashville Street Circuit and the finale at Laguna Seca.
Herta started the season with five top five finishes in the first five races, including podiums at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. He struggled with bad luck and performance issues after the Indianapolis 500, though did manage to pick up another podium finish at Laguna Seca and his first pole position on an oval at Iowa. Herta finally broke through at Toronto, qualifying on pole and winning his first race in two years. At the final race of the season at the Nashville Superspeedway, Herta broke through and took his first win on an oval, securing second place to Alex Palou in the 2024 IndyCar Series championship standings, his highest points total yet. Herta also became the highest scoring Andretti Autosport driver in the modern IndyCar era since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.
2025: Final year with Andretti
Following the season's end, Herta would leave Andretti and the IndyCar series altogether, transferring to Formula 2 while becoming Cadillac's test driver in Formula One, with Will Power replacing him after getting released from Team Penske.