There is currently a tender process for an eleventh team to be added to F1, with Andrei-Cadillac arguably the most qualified.

However, current F1 teams’ senior officials have made their stance on this bid clear.

Toto Wolff reiterated his position at Silverstone, saying: “Our position was very clear – buy a team.”

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Ferrari principal, Frederic Vasseur, agreed with Wolff’s stance on the issue.

He said: “We have a huge boom in Formula 1 now.

“But you have to keep in mind that a couple of years ago, when the crisis was there, the owners of the teams made a huge effort and the benefit is today.”

The FIA is expected to update their prospective entrants, including Andretti, about their applications on July 15th.

Former F1 driver Andretti owns a racing empire which is present in Indycar, Formula E and elsewhere.

He said the 11th-team option was the only way he could enter F1, with all 10 teams rejecting a buyout.

“We have contacted all the teams, but no one is interested.

“They keep saying ‘buy a team,’ but nobody wants to sell. They are not even interested in a discussion.”

The 60-year-old American says he is placing faith in the FIA to aid Andretti-Cadillac in becoming an F1 team.

He remarked: “In the end, the teams are not the ones who will make the decision.

“It will be up to F1 and the FIA to decide if they think us coming in is a good thing.”

He retaliated to accusations that his associations with General Motors and Cadillac were only being pushed to get his bid over the line.

Andretti said: “People try to say ‘they’re just putting their name on it’, but it’s not like that.

“They are an integral part of the team.”

READ: Toto Wolff reveals Mercedes plan to ensure Lewis Hamilton isn’t fighting the midfield

If there are two Andretti-Cadillac cars on the grid as soon as 2025, the identity of one of the drivers is already known – Colton Herta.

Herta is currently in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving for Andretti Autosport.

“Colton is part of the project,” Andretti confirmed.

“He’s tested the McLaren and did very well. I’d like him to be the first competitive American in F1 for a long time.”

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Herta is, of course, IndyCar’s youngest ever race winner and was massively linked to a move to Formula 1 for 2023, only to be denied a super license.

The FIA’s super license system has been heavily criticised over recent years, with IndyCar drivers arguably not receiving the points they deserve, given the competitiveness and difficulty of the championship.

Based on the FIA’s current system, Formula 2 is the most rewarding series in regard to super license points in order to pursue a move to Formula 1, with the F2 Champion receiving 40 points.

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To be eligible to race at the pinnacle of motorsport, a driver must have 40 points on their license, something a F2 driver would have technically should they win the junior series.

The IndyCar Champion does also receive 40 points; however, the runner-up only receives 30, whereas in F2 the entire top three in the championship receive 40 points.

For most IndyCar drivers it then becomes understandably difficult to acclaim 40 points over three seasons, to make the switch to F1.

Despite this, Red Bull urged the governing body last season to grant Herta a super license, so that he could be signed to replace Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri.

Ultimately, the FIA rejected Red Bull’s approach, meaning that Herta had to remain across the pond.

The Andretti driver has seen the funny side of the situation, though, with him having joked that Pitt was granted a license before him.

“Brad Pitt got a super license before me. Tough,” Herta comically on Twitter.

As part of an upcoming F1-based film that he’s working on, Pitt will be driving a modified F2 car to complete further filming, during the British GP.

No other cars will be on track whilst Pitt is; however, filming will be taking place in and around the paddock at Silverstone.

READ: Red Bull provide huge contract update ahead of 2023 Miami GP

F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali can’t wait for the film to hit the big screens, with the Italian believing that the movie will prove once again that “F1 never stops”.

“We are going to start shooting very soon, and you will see it will be the first movie when basically, they will be within the racing event,” Domenicali said, as reported by news.com.au.

“It’s something that we need to control in a way, but it will be another way of showing that F1 never stops.”

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The American was heavily linked to a move to Formula 1 to race for AlphaTauri this season to replace Pierre Gasly, who has move to Alpine to partner Esteban Ocon.

The problem for Herta however was very similar to the one faced by Logan Sargeant, who has joined Williams to replace Nicholas Latifi.

Unfortunately for the two Americans, they did not have enough super licence points to be able to compete in Formula 1 and while Sargeant had a way to gather enough points, Herta did not.

READ: Ferrari warned that Charles Leclerc deserves better

Drivers can accumulate these points by taking part in F1 practice sessions, which Sargeant did with Williams, and by taking part in other racing series.

Sargeant was part of last year’s F2 championship and his final championship position scored him enough points to enter F1, however Herta was blocked by the FIA from taking part in a junior series as he attempted to up his points total.

Race director of the US Formula 3 and Formula 4 championships Scott Goodyear has revealed that he tried to enter Herta in last season’s F3 championship, which would allowed him to score some valuable super licence points.

“We offer super licence points to the drivers competing in our series and, if you win the F3/F4/Formula Regional in this country, you’re awarded more points than you are if you win the Indy Lights championship,” he explained to the Racer to Racer podcast.

“It’s interesting because Byran Herta [Colton’s father] called me in July. He wanted to see if we could get Colton to run in our F3 series because he needed to gain more super licence points.

READ: ‘Leaving the room with white smoke’: Toto Wolff on Lewis Hamilton’s new contract

“We were approving it, but he couldn’t get clearance from the FIA to be able to run that and [for him to] be given an opportunity to collect some points.”

After a potential move to sign the American broke down for AlphaTauri, the team quickly set their sights of prying the star of Monza, Nyck de Vries, away from Mercedes.

The Silver Arrows were very cooperative in letting their reserve driver join Red Bull’s sister team, telling reporters that they did not want to stand in the way of their driver’s dream of a full time race seat, which he had earned.

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As rumours regarding Gasly possibly moving to Alpine began to circulate, Red Bull looked into signing IndyCar star Herta for AlphaTauri, so that they could allow Gasly to leave the family and join Alpine.

Trying to sign Gasly, though, became increasingly difficult for Szafnauer and Alpine, as Herta’s move to AlphaTauri was blocked after the FIA rejected Red Bull’s appeal to let him race in F1 without the sufficient superlicence points.

IndyCar drivers are awarded significantly less superlicence points than they arguably deserve, with drivers being able to claim more racing in FIA junior categories than in the American open-wheel series.

READ: Iconic F1 sponsor to return in 2023 – but with a surprising team

To try and get hold of Gasly – who’d earlier signed a one-year contract extension with the team – Szafnauer contacted AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost, who gave the Romanian-American a fairly definitive answer.

“I called Franz [Tost] to say can you release him? And Franz said no. And so I said, ‘well, great. I’m glad you said that’,” Szafnauer said according to Motorsport.com.

“Because the last thing I wanted to hear was, yeah, I can’t wait to get rid of this guy! He said, no, I need him, he’s a great driver. I don’t want to lose him.

“I said ‘thank you, with all due respect, do you mind if I call Helmut [Marko]? He might have a different perspective’.”

Calling Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko is exactly what Szafnauer did, in a bid to get the services of Gasly to replace Fernando Alonso.

READ: Revealed: Mercedes insisting on giving Lewis Hamilton a £9mn pay rise in new contract

Szafnauer also held discussions with Herta himself, as the Alpine boss knew what he had to do in order to get Gasly’s signature.

“I called Helmut. But at the same time, when I got to certain milestones, I would call [Alpine CEO] Laurent [Rossi] and say, look, this is what I’ve done. This is how far I’ve gotten. I now have to go to America and talk to Bryan Herta about a release [for Colton Herta].

“And I did that bit of it too. I went and had lunch with Bryan and Colton. Because the release was conditional upon Red Bull finding a replacement that they were happy with. Otherwise they wouldn’t have released him.”

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Herta was heavily linked to a move to AlphaTauri for 2023 to replace Pierre Gasly who has switched to Alpine; however, the American star didn’t have the sufficient amount of points on his superlicence to allow him to legally switch to F1.

Red Bull tried to get the FIA to grant Herta permission to make the switch, given that IndyCar drivers aren’t given the superlicence points that they deserve.

Of course, AlphaTauri ended up signing former Mercedes reserve driver Nyck de Vries instead, who will partner Yuki Tsunoda.

READ: ‘Bloated’ FIA blasted by driver for ‘meddlesome’ involvement

Andretti are hoping to get their team into F1 for 2024, meaning that Herta will likely need to win the 2023 IndyCar Championship to make the switch.

Should Herta be eligible to race in F1 in 2024, then Andretti Snr is wanting an experienced driver to be alongside the American, with the 1978 F1 World Champion wanting Fernando Alonso to be that person.

This is highly unlikely to happen, given that Alonso is about to enter a two-year deal with Aston Martin, with their being an option for a third season.

Based on this, the double World Champion won’t be available until 2026, by which point he’ll be 44 years old.

The only other way for Andretti to sign Alonso would be to pay the Silverstone-based outfit a huge fee, given that the Spaniard is set to be on a very nice contract at his new home.

Speaking on the possibility of Alonso driving for Andretti in F1, Andretti Snr labelled it as “very possible”, with his signature being able to make a side “much more complete”.

“It’s very possible, of course,” Andretti said on a Twitch stream with SoyMotor.com.

“His experience is immeasurable and it would be a tremendous thing for us, so we’re going to look at it. I think he wants to keep racing and he’s still in his prime.

READ: Adrian Newey admits Red Bull ‘put too much’ into Lewis Hamilton fight

“One of the drivers who 99% would be in the team is Colton Herta, but he would need someone with more experience alongside him.

“This would make the team much more complete and that is what is being discussed right now as part of the plan.

“The main goal would be to have a very experienced driver alongside a new talent, and to have at least one American driver in the team.”

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The superlicence system is a questionable one, with different championships offering drivers a certain number of points for their licence.

In FIA junior categories, points are awarded based on where you come in certain championships, with those winning a title receiving more points than the person who claims third, for example.

To get to Formula 1, a driver must obtain a certain number of points on their licence, in order to be allowed to race at the pinnacle of motorsport.

READ: Mick Schumacher will use Mercedes boost to return in 2024

It was for this reason why so much attention was on Logan Sargeant in the F2 season finale, as the American had to finish in a certain position to ensure that he secured enough superlicence points to race for Williams in 2023.

As it stands a driver needs 40 points to race in Formula 1, something that was questioned earlier in the season.

When it was virtually confirmed that Pierre Gasly would be leaving AlphaTauri for Alpine, the Red Bull family looked into the possibility of signing IndyCar star Colton Herta; however, he only has 32 points on his licence that he’s achieved racing in the United States.

Due to his talent and the fact he races in a top-level championship, Red Bull asked the FIA if they would make an exception, given that IndyCar drivers are given less points than most junior drivers in FIA championships.

Ultimately, Herta was denied a superlicence and the chance to race for AlphaTauri in 2023, with him instead remaining in IndyCar next season.

However, should he win the title next season then he will have enough points to race in F1, meaning his name could crop up once again in the near future.

Interestingly, the system was only introduced as a result of Verstappen being brought to F1 at 17 years old in 2015, something that has stopped drivers switching to F1 at such a young age.

The Red Bull driver labelled the situation that Herta experienced this season as “very painful”, with the Dutchman believing that a “lot of doors” will open for him should he claim glory in IndyCar in 2023.

“I think in the past, a lot of great drivers wouldn’t have been able to jump into Formula 1,” Verstappen explained to NBC Motorsports.

“It is very tough and I don’t always agree with it.

READ: Daniel Ricciardo claims Lando Norris feels ‘invincible’ at McLaren

“I do think that for some drivers it is sometimes necessary, but when you have some really big talents, they don’t need to do 24 years in junior categories to get all those points.

“It is a tough one, it works out for some people and then of course it is very painful if you don’t as you are denied an opportunity to get into Formula 1.

“If Colton wins the championship in IndyCar, then that opens a lot of doors.”

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It was announced prior to FP3 at the Japanese Grand Prix that De Vries would be partnering Yuki Tsunoda at the Faenza-based team in 2023, which will see the Dutchman leave his role as Mercedes’ reserve driver.

The 27-year-old is actually one of the most decorated in single-seater racing, after claiming the 2019 Formula 2 World Championship and becoming the first official Formula E World Champion in 2021; however, it’s his performance at the Italian Grand Prix which is believed to have been the decisive moment.

De Vries was called up to replace Alex Albon for the Italian GP prior to FP3, after the Thai driver was diagnosed with appendicitis.

READ: ‘My dad told me’: Max Verstappen denies Lewis Hamilton claim

The Dutchman’s debut was flawless, as he not only made it to Q2; he also matched the Williams’ best result of the year after finishing ninth in the race.

His name quickly flew up AlphaTauri’s list, after it became impossible to sign IndyCar’s Colton Herta.

Apart from his F1 debut, De Vries’ season has been somewhat of a shocker, as he made a mess of trying to defend his Formula E crown.

There is no doubt that he is exceptionally talented, though, and perhaps the more traditional format and circuits will suit the Uitwellingerga-born driver.

Coronel thinks Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko is “brilliant” at “spotting young drivers”, especially with other teams having attempted to sign the Dutchman.

“I think this is a masterstroke from Red Bull,” Coronel told the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com.

“You should think twice. You are now Doctor Helmut Marko and think ‘oh, Williams would like to have him’ and ‘oh, he is going to test at Alpine.’

“Furthermore, with all those customer teams, Mercedes also knows what he can do, so boom, I need to capture this guy right now.

“Then I’ll be ahead of everyone and I can choose from all the candidates on the market. And Marko doesn’t just do anything eh, he is brilliant at one thing and that is spotting young drivers.

“They have a kind of brutality in that area. It’s a matter of ‘we want that guy, bam, here you have a contract right away and we’ll sort it out’. They actually think very simply and act quickly.”

It’s quite rare nowadays for a driver to be a rookie in F1 in the latter stage of their 20s, with most rookies in F1 these days being around 20 years of age.

READ: Ex-F1 champion aims dig at FIA over anti-US system

Given his age and success in various championships, Marko has tipped De Vries to instantly lead the Red Bull sister side next season, taking up the team leader role from Alpine-bound Pierre Gasly.

Coronel thinks De Vries is “bigger” than the majority of the F1 paddock and, something which is difficult to argue with based on titles alone.

“We should not forget: in karting, he won a championship every year. If you look at his CV, so purely titles, he is actually bigger than most in this paddock. There are few who have such a list as Nyck,” he added, indicating he could even get promoted to Red Bull fairly quickly.

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Herta was centre of a huge topic during the summer break, as AlphaTauri looked into how they could sign the 22-year-old despite his insufficient superlicence points.

Despite being at the pinnacle of motorsport in the United States, IndyCar is lowly regarded by the FIA, with drivers in the championship being awarded a similar level of superlicence points to FIA junior categories, even if finishing towards the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

The FIA refused to budge on the current system, resulting in AlphaTauri turning their attention elsewhere.

READ: Ex-F1 driver claims Pierre Gasly ‘stole’ Esteban Ocon’s girlfriend

This doesn’t appear to mean that we’ll never see Herta in Formula 1, though, with his deal at Andretti meaning that should Andretti Global finally be accepted to enter a team in F1, Herta would be the favourite to race for the team, with the likelihood being that by then he’ll have enough points.

His new deal with Andretti comes as the family-run team confirms their line-up for 2023, with Herta said to be the lead driver once again for the outfit.

Herta will be partnered by ex-F1 driver Romain Grosjean and Devlin DeFrancesco at Andretti, as well as 2021 Indy Lights champion Kyle Kirkwood.

The seven-time IndyCar winner will continue to be part of McLaren’s testing of previous cars programme, despite having signed a new multi-year deal with Andretti.

The young American has been gaining experience with McLaren during tests this season, in the Woking-based team’s 2021 car.

Fellow IndyCar drivers Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward will also remain as part of McLaren’s TPC programme, with the two actually taking part in a test for the team at the Red Bull Ring at the end of the week.

READ: Williams boss says Mick Schumacher ‘definitely an option’, dismisses other German driver

Herta is regarded as one of, if not the best American driver at the moment.

He famously won his first ever IndyCar race at just 18 years, 11 months, and 25 days old, making him the youngest winner in the history of the championship.

His win at the host of the United States Grand Prix, the Circuit of the Americas, was astonishingly just his third IndyCar appearance, highlighting his exceptional talent.

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The young American has won four races since he joined IndyCar proper in 2018 with Harding, who have since adopted their Andretti guise.

Herta has claimed four race wins in as many years, and he finished 10^th in the championship in 2022, while performing testing duties for McLaren.

He was tipped as a potential replacement for Daniel Ricciardo at the British side, but they have instead signed Alpine reserve driver, Oscar Piastri.

READ: Helmut Marko reveals Red Bull failed to poach driver due to ‘McLaren complications’

The Australian gained enough super license points from his Formula 2 exploits last season, but Herta only has 32 of the required 40 points to qualify.

Another season in the American should do the trick, but in general, IndyCar holds less value than F2 and Formula 3 in the eyes of the FIA, who grant Formula 1 super licenses.

This is a bone of contention for many, particularly those in the American series, who feel that their championship is being undermined by the world motorsport governing body.

Red Bull were scouting Herta as a possible replacement for Pierre Gasly should he leave AlphaTauri for Alpine, but the FIA would not budge when the Austrian side asked them to grant Herta a super license.

For now, there will be no place on the grid for the Andretti driver, but Epstein sees no reason why he cannot fight his way into the paddock in the coming years.

“I don’t think the final chapter has been written on that story yet,” he told the Race.

“So I hope we see him in Formula 1 in the future, even though it may not be next year.

“I’d love to see him on the grid, especially in a team that’s competitive, that’s equally important.”

One of Herta’s team-mates, Alexander Rossi, finished second in the 2015 GP2 series to Stoffel Vandoorne, and he is set to join McLaren’s IndyCar project next year.

His career path has worked differently to that of Herta, who returned to America after finishing third in the MSA Formula Championship in 2015.

“I’ve been asked like 1,000 times or whatever the question about the American driver,” explained Epstein.

“And nobody has pointed out the difference! It’s a big difference if you come through [the American junior ranks].

“Because Alexander came through the other direction and wound up in IndyCar, right? And people didn’t notice Rossi there [in F1].

“So that would be unique. And that would be really helpful if they came through IndyCar rather than the traditional F1 feeder series.

READ: Red Bull planned to field Colton Herta in a race this year

“There’s a bump there. It might only last one year, that bump of interest, unless he’s competitive.

“But there certainly would be the bump you would get from someone coming from IndyCar and stepping forward, rather than just from the feeder series in Europe, if there’s an American that went over there.”

If Red Bull were to dig into their junior pool for a possible Gasly replacement, they would likely find Formula 2 driver, Liam Lawson, as their most likely option to join AlphaTauri next season.

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The 22-year-old has been linked with a move to Formula 1 in 2022, and he completed a test in Portugal with McLaren in preparation for a potential future drive.

By all accounts, the American impressed in his appearance with the eight-time champions, but they have gone with Oscar Piastri for the 2023 campaign.

One of the reasons for this is that Herta does not currently hold enough points to qualify for a super license.

READ: McLaren boss admits concern about Red Bull ‘snatching’ their driver for 2023

He has 32 of the necessary 40 points needed to obtain one, so one more season in IndyCar should be enough to get him over the line.

However, one argument is that the FIA should be rating the American series more highly, but the governing body will not budge.

This is despite pressure from Red Bull, who have been trying to acquire Herta’s services in case AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly heads to Alpine next year.

They will only let the Frenchman go if they can find a suitable replacement, and because they are not entirely happy with their junior options, they pursued one of IndyCar’s brightest young stars.

As well as the FIA closing the door, for now, on Herta’s F1 dream, Dr Marko suggests that Andretti made him a better offer.

“Andretti increased their offer to Herta so that he stays there,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

Further, the 79-year-old affirmed that Herta’s relationship with McLaren made things more difficult.

“He has to arrange the obligations to McLaren and Andretti himself if he wants to come to us,” added Dr Marko.

Herta praised the efforts of Nyck de Vries who, after winning the Formula 2 and Formula E titles in recent years, made his debut appearance with Williams at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman’s points finish put him on the radar for an F1 drive next year, but Herta does not feel any resentment towards the added competition.

“He’s already 27, 28, but with what he did in Monza, he got a lot of attention from a number of places,” he explained.

“It proves that when you get the chance, you have to take it. He did, so all credit to him.”

Before reaching the pinnacle of motorsport, the Andretti driver still feels that he has unfinished business in IndyCar, having finished last season 10^th in the championship.

“There are a few things that we and I need to improve, I’m not yet a fully championship-worthy driver – or at least I wasn’t this year,” added Herta.

Andretti Global, led by IndyCar champion Michael, made an attempt to buy the Sauber Group last year in a move that might have seen Herta get the chance to race for them in years to come.

That deal fell through, but there will be more opportunities for the American.

READ: McLaren boss calls for a ‘review’ as he hits out at the FIA for anti-US bias

“Michael wants to get me into F1 and that’s not a short-lived offer either,” stated Herta.

“In the next few years there may be a few more options, like if someone wants to sell or if a new manufacturer comes in.”

It appears likely that Herta will stay with Andretti in IndyCar for at least one more season.

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