Herta surprised by Red Bull's interest: 'That may have helped'

Colton Herta says he was surprised by the interest shown by Red Bull Racing, which wants to offer him a seat at AlphaTauri. The IndyCar driver is currently awaiting a decision from the FIA as he does not yet have a super license.

Fernando Alonso's shocking move to Aston Martin rocked the driver's market in Formula 1. Alpine wanted to use Oscar Piastri for 2023, but he had already signed a deal with McLaren. After this, the attention of the French stable shifted to Pierre Gasly.

Helmut Marko would agree, provided Herta could take over Gasly's seat at AlphaTauri. The American driver says he was surprised that his name was suddenly linked with an F1 seat, especially at a team other than McLaren. "It was a bit of a surprise because I didn’t think I was on anyone else’s radar," he says in conversation with Motorsport.com.

Herta thinks the test he did for McLaren may have helped, as everyone seemed very happy with how the rest went and how prepared the driver was, both physically and mentally. Still, he says he was surprised when he first heard about AlphaTauri's interest.