American driver Colton Herta will test a Formula One car with McLaren this season.
Herta, the youngest race winner in IndyCar, will be able to drive old F1 machinery thanks to a part of the new regulations called “testing of previous cars”.
According to Racer.com, Herta’s test is part of a wider developmental deal, although McLaren’s news release only mentioned the tests he will have later this year. There are no further details of those tests at present.
Herta was tipped as the lead driver for any potential Andretti F1 entry and he seems to be the comfortable favourite to become America’s next full-time driver at some point in the future.
No American has competed in an F1 race since Alexander Rossi at the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Such a close link to McLaren would raise the prospect of Herta taking part in an F1 grand prix practice session for the team this year, with F1’s first-ever Miami Grand Prix in May and the U.S. Grand Prix in October.