Interview
‘It’s great to be home’ – Herta pleased with strong start after topping Miami Practice
Colton Herta was happy to have topped his first session in Formula 2, as he led the way in the Miami Free Practice, and he believes there is more to come from himself and Hitech.
The American driver was a fixture inside the top five on the timesheets after each flying lap he completed, before going to P1 in the closing stages.
With less than two minutes to go, Herta’s 1:40.320 put him ahead of ART Grand Prix driver Kush Maini by just 0.016s.
Speaking in the paddock afterwards, Herta said: “It's great to be home. It obviously started really well, and I felt a lot more comfortable than in Melbourne.
“I think that's partly due to maybe adjusting pre-event, and just more time in the car. But I'm super happy to start off this way. Obviously, it doesn't mean much if we can't continue it the rest of the weekend, so that's the focus.”
This is the Cadillac-backed driver and the rest of the paddock’s first visit to Miami, so to hit the ground running was a positive, and shows how well they prepared for the weekend.
“I mean, it was almost just fully simulations,” said Herta. “So on the laptop we have the set up, and then obviously with us in the simulator actually driving what they think will be good.
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“So it's a lot of bit of educated guessing. I also think you have to expect that everybody's going to make a big step after they can decompress and look through everything, both teams and drivers. So I expect lap times to be quite a bit quicker in qualifying.”
Looking ahead to Qualifying, Herta will be aiming for his first Pole Position in Formula 2, but says there are a few areas of improvements he and the team have to make before the session.
“There's always places that we can go better and we be better at,” he said. “I think it's obviously less than a lot of people because I was fairly happy.
“But now it's just all about understanding what that transition is going to look like with lighter fuel loads, softer tyres, more rubber down on the track – looking at what that is going to do to the car. We will have more heat and the wind might be a little different.
“From my side, it's very simple. It's looking at where I need to improve. There is still quite a bit of improvement than can be made from the lap that I did, and I'm sure it's the same for everybody.
“But for me, it's all about maximising. We know we can be fast. Now it's just about putting it all together, all into one lap.”