Colton Herta crashes, causes red flag in Melbourne F2 practice debut
U.S. IndyCar star suffered a half spin that sent him into the barriers early in his first F2 weekend
Colton Herta, Hitech
Photo by: Dom Gibbons / Formula 1 via Getty Images
With more than 25 minutes remaining in the first F2 session of 2026, Colton Herta lost the rear of his car and crashed, sending debris across the track and causing a red flag.
Herta was exiting turn 10, and it appears his car lost it early to mid-corner, sliding toward the inside of the track and coming to a rest next to the barriers.
Able to safely hop out of his Hitech F2 car, Herta exited to applause from the fans at the Albert Park Circuit before going straight to his garage to regroup. Multiple drivers caused both yellow and red flags for incidents as they came to grips with the street circuit.
His debut is an interesting one for an F2 driver, having taken an unconventional route through race-winning IndyCar stardom before turning his focus fully towards learning enough to earn a future F1 drive.
Past results include a total of nine IndyCar race wins, and Herta was the championship runner-up in 2024. In anticipation of for a potential future in F1 machinery, Cadillac announced earlier this year that Herta was the team’s test driver for 2026.
Herta's next session on track will be in Friday qualifying, before a Saturday Sprint race and Sunday feature race this weekend.
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