Colton Herta takes on a new challenge in 2026 and has kicked off his season with points in Melbourne, earning P7 in his maiden Feature Race last month.

Ahead of racing action getting started this year however, we caught up with the Hitech driver about his time away from the track as well as the motivations behind taking on a new Championship.

KEEPING BUSY AWAY FROM RACING

“I did enjoy playing the drums. I don't really do it as much as I'd like to anymore. Did have band but not anymore.

“Obviously for the last few years, I've just been too busy. I haven't lived in Los Angeles for a long time, but I did enjoy that.

“I think racing is 90% of my time to be honest, but you need stuff to take your mind off of racing sometimes.

“I think it can be a little bit of an unhealthy obsession sometimes if you spend all your time on that. So, I enjoy golfing. Obviously, the training part of it is important, but trying to incorporate things that I find enjoyable is the aim.

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“So, running and road cycling, golfing is a good one, because you can get away for a few hours, if you can find the time for that, and just kind of switch off.

“It's relatively low impact, and it's safe, which I'm sure the team bosses like. I think it'd probably get shut down really quick if all of a sudden the big thing was motocross racing. So, I think they're happy with that.

A NEW CHALLENGE

Herta says the challenge of taking on F2 is a great motivator in pursuit of his F1 goals
Herta says the challenge of taking on F2 is a great motivator in pursuit of his F1 goals

“This year will be a crazy year. I’ll be going straight from Melbourne to Sebring for the 12 Hours of Sebring with Cadillac in the sports car world.

“Then I will be splitting that with the Formula 1 side of things. It's going to be a lot of stuff. We won't have a lot of time for golf this year, but I like being busy and I really enjoy my job. It's a good problem to have.

“Taking on something new at this point in my career – it's exciting for me. To have something new, it's a new challenge, it's a new goal, there’s a lot of new things to learn.

“It would have been my eighth season in IndyCar. And while it definitely doesn't get dull, this is just fresh, it's something different. A new challenge to go after which is exciting.

“I'm always learning new stuff every day. Whereas, in IndyCar, you might learn one new thing a month or something.

The American driver rebounded from a Practice crash to score points in the Melbourne Feature Race
The American driver rebounded from a Practice crash to score points in the Melbourne Feature Race

“Every single day that I'm in the workshop or on the sim, or even at home watching stuff, I'm like, oh yeah, like that's kind of new, that's cool. Or this is something new in my driving style that I can get on with, new drivers that I have to race against and re-learn things.

“Before this year, I see what everybody else sees on the TV and whatnot and can see it from the outside perspective. But now being with the team, I can see it from that side of things and understand a little bit more. I think there will still be a lot of stuff that I'll be picking up on throughout the year.”