Why a Young IndyCar Could Be the Best Fix to a Potential Driver Problem At AlphaTauri.
The silly season kicked off in full swing when two-time F1 drivers champion Fernando Alonso announced that he will be switching teams for the 2023 season. I am of course talking about the Spaniards choice to move from the surging Alpine team which has been the clear best of the rest on the 2022 grid, to struggling but growing team Aston Martin. This has started somewhat of a domino effect when it comes to the driver market. It was assumed that Alpine junior and reverse driver Oscar Piastri would take the seat of the highly rated Alonso’s seat. However, that was not the case with the hottest prospect in recent memory taking a seat in the Woking based team McLaren. This has led to many rumours about who will take the remaining Alpine seat there have been many names thrown in too the conversation such as Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher. There has been one name where the rumours have seemed to have more weight behind them. This is the name of the AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman has been putting in solid performances for the Red Bull Junior team for many years. However there has never seemed to be any ergency for him to be promoted back to the top team. This has always left us with the question, if the right the opportunity comes a long will Gasly break away from the Red Bull driver group. The Alpine drive seems to be the best opportunity a driver like Gasly is going to get at this moment in time. This because both driver and team are from France and Alpine is a massive step on the grid compared to the Alpha Tauri team. If everything falls into place this would then leave an opportunity for a seat at AlphaTauri. It looks like there is a favourite to take the seat at the AlphaTauri team. The favourite for the seat is a young talent racing in the Indycar series named Colton Herta.
Who is Colton Herta
Herta is a twenty-two-year-old American racing driver who has been racing in Indycar for four years where he has taken the chequered flag seven times. This shows just how good he is when he can win multiple times in such a competition, where they can be multiple potential winners on any given weekend. Having talked about his quality in America, he has also shown that he can compete at a high level in the European categories with current F1 drivers such as Lando Norris speaking very highly of Herta. This is when they competed against each in the Formula Four category. This shows the level of competition he has competed against in Europe. Herta has been linked to be on a shortlist too take over from the struggling Ricciardo. The Indycar driver has taken part in a testing program which was run by McLaren in Portimão and from all reports the test was a success. This shows that he has being on the radar of another big team in the sport. A testing program like this is very crucial for a driver with such little experience in F1 like Herta. This is because even though it is not the 2022 car it is still valuable experience. The reason for this is it gives a driver the insight that is needed to gain understanding of how a F1 team operates when it comes to executing run plans whether its long or short runs. Similarly, it helps a driver gain experience when talking part in debriefs.
Why AlphaTauri Would Benefit From His Services
As I previous stated Colton Herta is an exciting driver with some good credentials. It is very exciting to think of the prospect of Herta joining Formula One for the 2023 season. There are two reasons for this, the first one of these are he is lighting quick in a race car. This is shown when you look at his nine poles in Indycar. The second reason is that he has the potential to be an absolute star in the sport. This is because there seems to be a massive outcry for an American driver from the American fanbase. This is huge for the Red Bull organization because with its global marketing power and the potential support Herta could have behind him. It could be a strong competition in terms of gathering financial support through sponsorships. When you look at the partnership on the track it has the potential to be a very successful. This because if you look at what the AlphaTauri has done historically when it comes to nurturing young talent. When you look at the caliber drivers that has raced for the team it is staggering how many of the best drivers of the last decade are former drivers of the Red Bull junior team. The drivers that come to mind are Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, who both went on to be world champions with the senior team Red Bull. This shows that AlphaTauri is a good place to go for a driver who wants to tidy up some rough edges that they might have. This would be a very positive thing for Herta because even though he is known for being a incredibly quick and competent driver, he would have to adapt to certain aspects of F1. An example of this is tyre management, what I mean by this is that unlike F1, Indycar has two tyre compounds. What I mean by this is that Herta would have to get used to driving on the three Pirelli tyre compound used in F1. This is why the previously mention tests are crucial for his development as F1 driver. This is because you can gain more understanding on how the tyres work on the car. Another thing to remember that current Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez has a contract until the end of the 2024 season. This could suggest that Red Bull see Herta as an long term option to eventually be Verstappen’s team. This is because if Herta is brought into the Red Bull fold with the AlphaTauri team, it will give him time to gain the experience to eventually be ready to Pérez’s Successor.
AlphaTauri’s Other Options
Even though Herta is looking likely to be AlphaTauri’s first choice any good F1 team would have a shortlist of potential drivers. First of all you have to look at the crop of drivers that Red Bull are racing in Formula Two at this moment of time. With the likes of Liam Lawson and Jehan Darauvala coming to mind. However, the support behind them hasn’t been as strong as the likes of Tsunoda. This then makes you think that Red Bull doesn’t have much confidence in them. Their lack of confidence could be justified. What I mean by this is they both finish constantly on the podium with multiple wins for both of drivers. Having said that neither of them have ever taken control the championship for example like Oscar Piastri did last season. However, there are some interesting options outside of the Red Bull group. One of the names that has been lightly rumoured is Haas driver Mick Schumacher. This is because Schumacher’s Haas seat has been in doubt. News has broke that Schumacher will leave Ferrari’s drivers academy. This gives Mick the opening to join a team AlphaTauri.
As I said I think Herta will be the perfect choice to take over from Gasly if he decides to leave but who knows what is going to happen in the driver’s market.