McLaren has confirmed a story broken by the Racer that young American sensation Colton Herta will test with the team during 2022, using a one-year old car from last season.

The 21-year-old from California has been a revelation since he made his debut in IndyCar at the final race of 2018.

After finishing 2nd to current IndyCar rival Pato O’Ward in the Indy Lights championship four years ago, he’s taken six wins in the pinnacle series of North America.

His maiden win at COTA in 2019 meant Herta was the youngest driver to ever win in IndyCar.

He’s expected to be a title contender this year, after finishing 3rd and 5th in the standings across 2020 and 2021 respectively.

In a statement, McLaren said: “The opportunity for Herta comes with the new Formula 1 sporting regulations, which enable teams to now test one-year-old cars, under the Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) provision. The McLaren F1 TPC programme provides an opportunity for the team to test potential drivers and evaluate young talent for the future.

“McLaren Racing will confirm further details of its TPC programme in due course.”

Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren F1, said:

“Colton is a proven talent in IndyCar and we will be interested to see how he adapts to a Formula 1 car. We believe this testing programme will provide him with valuable experience while demonstrating the benefit of expanding previous car testing to showcase promising drivers for the future.”

Colton Herta, said:

“I want to thank McLaren for the opportunity to get my first laps in a Formula 1 car, which has always been on my racing bucket list. This will be a great opportunity for me to gain some valuable experience in a new form of motorsport and learn from such an established team like McLaren F1.”