‘I feel very competitive’ – Herta eager to improve qualifying results ahead of Monte Carlo debut

Colton Herta is getting ready for his debut in Monte Carlo and previewing the fourth round of the season, the Hitech driver revealed what he needs to improve to be fighting at the front.

The American was speaking after doing his track walk, and with the Principality streets still busy, he admits he did not get a clear idea of the circuit. However, he does have his simulator work to fall back on ahead of Friday’s Free Practice.

“It feels great to be here,” said Herta. “I think it's a very interesting track, it’s very different to the street circuits I'm used to.

“I would say the street circuits in America are a bit more street circuity I guess, just from the fact that you have roads that aren't super manicured. But when you come over here with F1, it's all very nice, neat, very smooth.

“Each have their positives and negatives, but I'm excited to see what a track this narrow kind of feels like when it's this smooth.

“I like the flow of it. I think qualifying, as everybody knows, is super important, and that's probably the most fun part of the weekend, it is when you really get to push the car on the limit.”

Through his first three rounds, Herta’s Qualifying results have been P14 in Melbourne and Miami, while in Montreal, he wound up in P19.

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The Hitech driver acknowledges that this needs to improve, but is taking confidence from the fact that he already comfortable in the car over a race distance.

“It's not for a lack of comfort, especially on street circuits, which is all we have been to so far,” he explained. “So, it's not from a lack of comfort. I'm very comfortable getting up close with the walls, picking my line and committing to it.

“But I think there's a few things to polish up. I still feel very competitive in the car, but it's not really transpiring in the end. It’s the Achilles heel for me right now.

“If we can just qualify well, we're scoring points in every Feature Race, the race pace is really strong. If we can just qualify a little bit more towards the front, and if we can get into the top ten, that's going to make our weekend. We'll be able to fight from there.”

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Herta had joked he would love to jump into the water around Monaco at some point this weekend but also acknowledged it would be even better to do so with his first Formula 2 trophy in hand.

“I told you I'll probably jump in anyways,” he joked. “But it would feel better with a belly full of champagne and a trophy in my hand, that's for sure. So, we'll aim for that.”