Colton Herta's hopes of returning to the Indianapolis 500 in the middle of his bid to reach Formula 1 took a hit with a calendar clash Thursday from a pair of Formula 2 races added to the schedule.
F2 has scheduled two extra rounds of its championship alongside F1's Miami Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix, both next month. The race in Montreal clashes with the Indianapolis 500 on May 24.
They replace rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which were called off along with the F1 races there because of the war in Iran. The original schedule didn't have any F2 races in May, and the added races will mark the series' first events in North America.
Herta had been in contention for a fourth car at the Indianapolis 500 from Andretti Global, which shares an ownership group with the Cadillac F1 team in Dan Towriss and the TWG Motorsports conglomeration.
Now that Herta is not available, Andretti Global said Thursday it will focus on its current three-driver lineup for the Indy 500 and not enter a fourth car. The team fields cars for previous Indy 500 winners Will Power and Marcus Ericsson as well as Kyle Kirkwood.
Herta, who became IndyCar's youngest race winner at the age of 18 in 2019, made the move to F2 this season with an eye on the super license points needed to race in F1 with Cadillac as its first American driver.
The 26-year-old Herta is 10th in the F2 standings following the opening round in Australia last month.
"I think it's great if it gets me to Formula 1, and I would be incredibly grateful I took the leap," Herta told The Associated Press in January of his F2 move. "I think a lot of people feel it would be embarrassing if I fail, but I don't care what everybody thinks or if it's going to tarnish my career."
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Herta's F1 pursuit forces him to miss Indy 500 due to F2 schedule conflict with Canadian GP.
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This blocks a promising American driver's path to both iconic racing milestones in 2026.
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F2's North American expansion stems from Middle East cancellations due to Iran war.