Indycar racing driver, Colton Herta, recently marched into the victory lane with Andretti Autosport at St. Petersburg, securing the fourth race win of his Indy career. Amid such an astonishing start to the young American’s Indy campaign, ex-racing driver, Michael Andretti, revealed that he is anticipating offers from F1 soon.

But the bigger question is, even if Herta gets offers from F1 teams, would Andretti let go of such a talented racing driver? Well, the former Grand Prix winner opened up that he wouldn’t stand in the way of Herta if the latter receives an opportunity to race in F1.

However, he also clarified that his approval depends on the kind of team that wants the 21-year-old.

What did the former F1 driver say?

Speaking to RACER, Andretti revealed that he would let go of Herta if he gets a call from top teams like Ferrari, but would deny without second thoughts if the teams are the ones struggling to even compete for the top 10.

“From a selfish standpoint, I’m hoping he drives for me for many, many, many years,” he said. “But then again, I don’t want to stand in his way.

“If a team like Ferrari calls him, I’m not going to stand in his way on it,” Andretti continued. “But if one of the teams in last or second to last position in the championship over there calls, then I might say, ‘Yeah, I’d want to keep you here.’

“I’d be doing him a favor by keeping him out of those teams. I know a lot of those guys over there now. And I would encourage it if it’s a good situation.”

Herta’s achievements in Indycar

Colton Herta is definitely one of the rarest talents one could hunt for in this densely populated motorsport. The primary positive is the fact that he’s just 21 years old and has more than a decade left in hand before he starts thinking about retirement.

What’s more, he is in the middle of only his third Indycar season and has already secured four race wins. While his father Bryan Herta took 12 years to accomplish this goal, Herta needed just 34 race starts.

Herta also holds the record for the youngest ever to win an Indycar series race at the age of 18.

Hence, this has been a very steep rise in performance, and who knows? He could even win his first championship title this season, considering he is one of the prime contenders at the moment.

So many positives to take away from the American, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up in F1 in the coming years. But will he? Only time will tell.