Colton Herta admits IndyCar absence "hurts a bit"…

Colton Herta has ruled out attempting to run the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula 2 round at Montreal on the same day.

The California native, who is a test driver for Cadillac’s Formula 1 team and currently running his maiden season in F2, was previously rumored to contest this year’s Indy 500 with Andretti Global, his IndyCar team for six years (2020-25). Although the option existed prior to the 2026 season, the Middle East conflict put a pause on the F2 schedule before the series opted to pivot by adding rounds and accompanying F1 at Miami and Montreal.

Although Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are less than 500 miles apart, roughly a two-hour plane ride, Herta will prioritize F2 and has ruled out a unique version of a same-day double.

"I had visions in my head of being able to do that, but I kind of always knew it wasn't going to be able to do legitimately," said Herta, 26. "As far as the Indy side, you miss Carb Day, which is a very important day.

"And then even if it were to work, I think it'd be difficult because for me F2 is the clear priority and Cadillac is the clear priority for me this year. That was just kind of be a little bit of an added bonus when I had a bit of time off, but yeah, it wasn't meant to be this year."

Colton Herta, Hitech (Photo by: Getty Images)

Herta managed to score in the points in his debut weekend in F2 with a seventh-place finish in Australia. Although that momentum was temporarily halted due to the Middle East conflict leading to the cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, he’s happy not having to wait two months to get back into the car.

"I love it," Herta said. "I think for me at the beginning of the year, I thought my only North America race is going to be the Indy 500, so it's cool to have two F2 races and two places that look like really interesting tracks, very enjoyable tracks, so yeah, I didn't have it on my bingo card, but I'm glad that I get to be in Miami and Montreal for the races."

During the break, Herta went back to his IndyCar roots and attended the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington. Although he’s also kept up with North America’s premier open-wheel championship from afar, it does stir some emotions.

"Yeah, I mean, look, I would love to do an IndyCar race, but realistically, it's probably not going to help anything that I'm doing full-time, so it won't happen," said Herta, who has nine career IndyCar wins. "Or I would probably say I wouldn't do it because it might hurt. But yeah, I watch every time that I don't have a race weekend. I'm watching all the sessions, qualifying, races.

"And a part of me hurts to watch a little bit because I love the IndyCar racing. I love being in it. It's such a fun car to drive. But it's been a long time since I've been able to watch an IndyCar race too, so it's kind of been enjoyable from that aspect."