The solution for Herta’s Super License problem is remarkably simple
Unless you’ve been living under a motorsports rock in recent weeks, you’ve likely heard the news that Helmut Marko, head of Red Bull’s driver development program, said last weekend that IndyCar driver Colton Herta would drive for AlphaTauri in 2023 if the FIA granted him an exception to acquire the FIA Super License, which is required to compete in Formula One. Herta, considered one of IndyCar’s star drivers, has to rely on an exception because his championship performances in IndyCar have not been strong enough to score enough “Super License points” on his own.
So, some background. The FIA Super License is a racing license administered by the FIA under the International Sporting Code and spells out the requirements of what a driver must do to acquire a Super License to become eligible to compete in Formula One. First, the driver must be 18 years old by their first Formula One competition; second, they must hold an International Grade A competition license; third, they must have a valid driver’s license; fourth, they must pass a test on the Formula One sporting codes and regulations; fifth, competed in at least two full seasons in any of the eligible single-seater championships; and, finally, accumulated 40 “Super License points” over the previous three seasons.
Super License points are the issue here, so what are Super License points? Each eligible single seater racing series from Formula 2 down to continental junior karting championships assign point values to championship finishes. For example, a championship in IndyCar is worth 40 points, finishing second in the championship is worth 30, finishing 3rd is worth 20, 4th is worth 10, and so on. Those points are totaled over the previous three seasons of competition and, if it is 40 points or greater and you meet the other conditions, you’re eligible for a Super License.
Now, thanks to some racing series’ not competing in 2020 due to COVID, the FIA introduced an exception that allowed drivers to use the best three of their last four years to determine Super License points for eligibility if those seasons included 2020. That’s going to be important later.
I’m not saying that there aren’t a lot of reasons to not like the FIA Super License points system. Specifically relevant to this discussion is that it seems to undervalue the depth of IndyCar. Additionally, it was rushed into service and has allowed certain drivers publicly viewed as less talented into Formula One while it has kept drivers like IndyCar stars Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta out. All those very “American” arguments.
That brings us back to Herta driving for AlphaTauri in 2023 if he were to receive an exception. AlphaTauri has filed a request for a force majeure exception to allow Herta to acquire a Super License. What their specific angle is, isn’t immediately apparent, but there are a few arguments that you could make to argue that Herta should be eligible.
The problem is that the FIA is reportedly hesitant of doing that because of the potential unintended consequences it could have if other drivers try to apply for a similar exception without the correct number of points. Which, frankly, is the entire point of having a force majeure exception option, right? So that drivers who don’t have the correct number of points can apply for a ruling? Granting Herta’s request would not require them to say “yes” to any future requests for a force majeure exception.
But I do feel like that in this entire discussion this summer, that nobody is talking about the actual reason that Herta hasn’t been eligible for a Super License. While I have my own personal reservations about Herta’s readiness for Formula One, the solution for the FIA to fix this situation seems pretty simple.
For both Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward and Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta, their lack of Super License points relies on a decision to discount the 2018 Indy Lights championship, which O’Ward won while Herta finished second, when O’Ward applied for a Super License in 2019.
In May 2019, O’Ward was signed by Red Bull to their driver development program with the expectation that he had scored enough Super License points in his previous three seasons to acquire a Super License to compete in Formula One in 2020. However, when O’Ward applied, the FIA decided to discount the 2018 Indy Lights championship that O’Ward won because small car counts. The result was that O’Ward was now ineligible for a Super License and Red Bull would release him from his contract in October 2019, which would allow him to replace James Hinchcliffe at Arrow McLaren SP for the 2020 season.
Without the discounted season, O’Ward seems like he would have raced in Formula One in 2020. However, even if he had come to race IndyCar, he finished 4th in the championship in 2020 and 3rd in 2021 and would still have been eligible for a Super License at the end of the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Instead, he was officially three points short.
Similarly, for Herta, he finished second in the 2018 Indy Lights championship before moving to IndyCar in 2019. Following a 7th place championship finish in his rookie season and finishing 3rd in the championship in 2020, Herta would have had 36 Super License points. However, with the FIA’s new COVID exception rule and without the discounted 2018 Indy Lights championship, Herta’s best three of the last four seasons would have added to 42 points. And he would have remained eligible after finishing 5th in the championship in 2021. Instead, he was officially six points short.
The reason O’Ward and Herta are both short of the required Super License points today is because of an FIA decision. No other reason. Otherwise, both would have been eligible to acquire one for the 2022 season.
The easiest solution is for the FIA to review that earlier decision, change it and award full points for the championship, and then offer the two drivers affected by it a one-time opportunity to receive their Super License. The reason it makes the most sense to do it now is because that 2018 season is about to fall out of eligibility. Once the 2022 season completes, four seasons runs from 2019 to 2022, so you can still correct it without reaching outside the four-season window.
You could even pair it with a rule that makes you eligible for a Super License if you’ve accumulated 40 Super License points in any three-year period of your career, as long as you have continued to compete. So, a driver like Alex Palou could win the 2021 IndyCar championship and remain eligible regardless of what he does over the next three seasons. Which makes a lot of sense to me.
There is no need for the FIA to change the rules or retroactively update the Super License point structure for IndyCar. There is no need to make a force majeure ruling. All they need to do is reverse a three-year-old decision.
Throw in some jargon about how the competition level was actually higher than originally believed with two Formula One caliber talents in the field because let’s be fair, most series on par with Indy Lights on the Super License scale do not have two drivers who will end up racing Formula One. In fact, most don’t even have one.
Fix the 2018 Indy Lights championship and the most immediate problems fix themselves. Simple.
The question for me is that in the FIA rulebook (13.1.6d), it provides an opportunity for a driver who has scored a 30 or more Super License points an exception due to “circumstances outside their control.” It seems to me like how many other cars show up to race is decidedly not within the control of any single driver. So, my question to the FIA would be how were the low car counts in the Indy Lights series in 2018 the fault of O’Ward or Herta?
