Colton Herta’s gut-wrenching radio message to team: "Remember this feeling"

Colton Herta had a difficult season opener in his 2025 IndyCar campaign. Qualifying second on the grid, it looked like he was going to take the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in his stride. But after a slow pitstop, he wasn't able to finish higher than 16th. 

Qualifying with a time of 59.6393s behind Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin, he started the Sunday with confidence. The Californian driver has, after all, won in St. Petersburg in 2021—his first-ever street circuit victory.

Herta, who is a top candidate for a Formula 1 seat for the Cadillac F1 team, was unsurprisingly disappointed following the challenging race. He posted the following to X (formerly Twitter). 

"That one hurts, but my guys have always had my back and I’ll always have theirs. We’ll break down where we went wrong and fix it for the future."

Pitting on lap 36 of the race, Andretti struggled with the rear right tyre, unravelling the pace the driver had been consistently showing so far. On passing the chequered flag, he radioed through an emotional message to his team.

Colton Herta, Andretti Global

Photo by: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo - Getty Images

"Remember this feeling. It sucks," he told them." I don't want to feel like this ever again. And I know you guys don't too.

"I got your back though, as long as you got mine." 

Herta's race engineer, Nathan O'Rourke, responded, equally as disappointed: "Sorry. Strategy was right. We failed to execute. That's on us."

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@indycar)

After finishing runner-up in the championship last year, the driver is keen to make the most of what could potentially be his last fight for the IndyCar championship this year if he chooses to leave for F1—something he has confirmed he's still undecided on.

“I’d be leaving a great group of people I really like working with, so it’s not a sure thing for me,” Herta admitted. “It’s not an easy decision, just to be like, ‘Alright, see you guys later.’ I’d be giving up an opportunity of maybe never working with these people again.”

Mario Andretti, a director on the board of the Cadillac F1 team, has confirmed his interest in the driver, looking to pursue the idea of an American driver lineup. 

"Some mistakes were made last year that cost him a championship, and unfortunately that happens," Andretti told Motorsport.com of Herta's 2024 campaign.

"Sometimes you put too much pressure on yourself and then you make that mistake. But when you look at the ingredients that were there, you had the ingredients of a champion.

"But for just one of those instances, he could have been champion. So, when you look back and assess all those things, you've got to feel pretty good."