Rumor: Colton Herta possible replacement for Ricciardo in 2023

Formula 1 journalist Joe Saward claims that Colton Herta is seen as a possible replacement for an underperforming  Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.

Ricciardo’s with McLaren is until the end of 2023, but in his blog, Saward identifies IndyCar star, and McLaren development driver, Herta as a candidate to replace Ricciardo, maybe even before 2024.

“Daniel Ricciardo seems a little lost at McLaren and there continue to be rumors that in 2024 (if not earlier) Daniel will be replaced by Colton Herta, the American who Zak Brown [McLaren Racing CEO] believes could open the gates of Formula 1 to corporate America,” Saward writes.

“We will have to see if Herta has everything needed to be an F1 star, but he seems to have the speed.”

As part of his McLaren deal, Herta is set to test the McLaren MCL35M car in 2022.

Brown has now confirmed that a plan is in place for that, though did not reveal any specifics.

“Yes, we’ve now got a plan installed for Colton,” he told RACER.

“That’s up to Andreas Seidl [McLaren team principal] to communicate that outwardly when he’s ready to communicate it. But yes, we have a plan.”