Red Bull say they have "found an agreement" for Colton Herta but deal is dependent on exemption over superlicense points; Red Bull want Herta to replace Pierre Gasly, who is favourite to land the Alpine seat, at sister team AlphaTauri
Monday 5 September 2022 15:50, UK
Red Bull want to sign IndyCar star Colton Herta to replace Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri and could confirm a deal before this weekend's Italian GP.
Gasly, who has been part of the Red Bull stable since his F1 debut five years ago, is Alpine's preferred candidate to fill the vacant seat left by Fernando Alonso, which Oscar Piastri turned down to join McLaren.
Red Bull have indicated they are willing to part ways with Gasly, although would want compensation and a suitable replacement to partner Yuki Tsunoda at their sister team AlphaTauri in 2023.
Herta, the talented 22-year-old American, has emerged as the frontrunner, though he would require an exemption from F1's governing body to be able to compete.
"Astonishingly enough, all of the parties and teams involved, we found an agreement," Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko said.
"First we have to get a definite answer [from the FIA] and I think it should be by Monza."
To obtain a superlicense to compete in F1, drivers need to accumulate 40 points. But despite strong performances in IndyCar with seven race wins, Herta is currently eight points short as the American series, which isn't governed by the FIA and does not rate highly in the licensing system.
Red Bull are hopeful of getting a dispensation, while McLaren boss Zak Brown has also backed getting Herta into F1.
Herta tested for McLaren in July this year and is rated highly by the team.
"We're not going to release Pierre if we can get something exciting in that car," Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1.
He added, per per Autosport. "He's an exciting talent. He's a younger American guy that's been a standout talent in the US, so it'll be very interesting to see how he performs in F1.
"And F1 obviously is growing in popularity in the US market at the moment, and to have a successful US driver could be very interesting. It could be interesting for us, in the longer term.
"I mean, we've got contracts with our existing drivers, but AlphaTauri or Toro Rosso, they've produced a great stable of drivers for us to draw upon, whether it be Sebastian [Vettel] or Max [Verstappen] or Daniel [Ricciardo] over the years."
