How Herta's aversion to complacency spells bad news for his IndyCar rivals

Sporting heroes are often forgiven for braggadocio. Even the so-called humble brag, that tends to be emitted only by those too stupid to realise that objective members of the watching and listening world sees right through them, will be overlooked by the fawning fan.

Then there is the more self-aware sports star who goes too far in the opposite direction, and sounds so obsequious and modest to his peers or betters that it comes across as false – especially when one knows that behind the scenes, said character actually behaves like his or her effluence smells sweeter.

On one occasion this writer was chatting informally to a sports psychologist whose principal work had been with tennis players, and a realised dawned that much of what she said could be applied to racing drivers. After explaining that I was a journalist who found it tiresome dealing with drivers from either of the two extremes mentioned above, she remarked: "You do realise that in both cases, it’ll be insecurity?

"Someone who has to talk up their achievements is someone who’s worried that they’re not perceived as good enough or don’t perceive themselves as good enough – or both. It’s what they’re like away from the media – you guys! – that counts.

"If an athlete really does believe he or she is the best, that’s when the problems start. Arrogance is the enemy. The absolute best in any sport have to possess enough self-belief to fulfil their potential, but they should never let it become arrogance.

"Athletes who think they could be the best but feel this burning need to prove it – to reassure themselves, or to prove the point to others – are probably going to have the right mental approach to reach the top and stay there, because they’re going to be determined to show their ability every time they compete.

Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport Honda takes the lead at the start

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

"It’s the ones who are already completely convinced that they are the best who have the big problems. Firstly, they’re more likely to ease off on the training or the studying – the work they have to do between matches that helps give them an edge and pushes them further. Secondly, they’re more likely to get caught out in terms of someone beating them – which you might say is exactly what they deserve.

"And thirdly, getting beaten is going to hit the arrogant person harder mentally. Think about it: if you’ve convinced yourself that you’re the best at something and then someone takes you down, it’s going to throw your world into a spin. You start looking for excuses."

In other words, to be the best you need to believe you can be the best without ever thinking you are the best. Granted, I’m no psychology expert, but my companion’s theorising made sense to me then and even more so now, having used it as a tenet by which to assess the thinking and attitudes of drivers past and present. And it has helped form my belief that Colton Herta will soon be one of America’s archetypal racing heroes. His ability? Unquestionable. Work ethic? Solid. Public persona? Increasingly appealing.

Although I first met the son of Indycar race-winner Bryan a couple of months after his 10th birthday, it wasn’t until he had dominated Pacific F1600 that I paid attention to a blossoming talent – confirmed by two years in Europe scoring multiple wins with Carlin in MSA Formula (British F4) and EuroFormula Open, finishing top-three in both series. But then the financial reality of trying to get into Formula 2 hit Herta and his ever-supportive parents.

On his return to the Miami street circuit, he’s avenged his self-defeat in as convincing a display as any we’ve seen from any IndyCar driver over the past five years. And yet the attitude afterward was still self-effacing

The DTM became an option that intrigued Herta – fast but sophisticated cars and the possibility of developing a manufacturer relationship that can lead in very interesting directions – but given that series’ turbulent trajectory in recent years, he was vilified in staying on the open-wheel path in Indy Lights.

In 2017, he found the handling of the Andretti Steinbrenner Racing Lights car very much to his liking. He would throw it around sometimes to the detriment of his tyres, sometimes perhaps focusing a little too much on qualifying, but was a regular race winner who finished third in the points standings.

He took a more methodical approach in 2018, aware that he could afford to focus more on race day set-ups given that his only consistent rival was his similarly talented team-mate Pato O’Ward, and there was a notable reduction in red mist. However, a hand/wrist injury incurred in a crash at Toronto hurt him more and for longer than he let on, and O’Ward emerged as champion.

Colton Hera, Toronto Indy Lights 2018

Photo by: Indy Lights

The pair made their IndyCar debuts in the 2018 season finale with Harding Racing, and while O’Ward starred, Herta did not, set back by a spin and minor shunt in practice. He decided caution was the better part of valour. Yet it was Herta who was retained once it became clear that there was funding for only one IndyCar in 2019, and with Harding Steinbrenner Racing being a satellite Andretti Autosport team, Herta’s confidence blossomed.

His first win, at Circuit of The Americas, owed something to luck, for Will Power and Alexander Rossi were class of the field until their strategies were blown apart by an ill-timed caution period. But there was nothing fortunate about Herta’s pole positions at Road America, Portland nor Laguna Seca, the latter of which he led almost throughout, holding off Power to the chequered flag.

Despite his two victories, Herta was beaten to the Rookie of the Year title by the more consistent Felix Rosenqvist – incredibly, Herta's only other top-five finish was a fourth at Portland. Not all the underperformances and DNFs were his fault, but still he recognised that a shift in attitude as well as refining his skills would be a necessity for 2020.

Sure enough, he did so. In the midst of a troubled time for Andretti Autosport as the majority of its best tracks - street courses - were deleted from the 2020 calendar due to COVID-19-related restrictions, Herta was a shining light. He was also ready to pounce when the squad turned its road course performances around, leading home a podium sweep at Mid-Ohio, and despite being one of several aces to throw away a winning opportunity in the season finale at St. Petersburg, still clinched third in the championship.

Now, on his return to the Miami street circuit, he’s avenged his self-defeat in as convincing a display as any we’ve seen from any IndyCar driver over the past five years. And yet the attitude afterward was still self-effacing.

Young Herta has shed the veil of shyness that used to render him cripplingly reserved when speaking to those with whom he was unfamiliar. And Herta knows – he must know – how good he is. But there’s not a trace of conceit, no hint that the dominance in the season’s second round was all down to him.

During the middle stint when he and his nearest pursuer, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, were both on scrubbed Firestone primaries, Herta pulled out an 11s lead but he described it thus: "I knew that we had a pretty good chunk on Josef at that point, and so the only thing that I thought to do once we got it out to like six seconds was try and save more and more fuel, try to go that lap longer. But we were still faster and able to pull away by about two-tenths, a tenth-and-a-half per lap when we were doing that. When you have a car that good, you can do whatever you want with it and just make it work."

Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport Honda

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

He’s a smart driver: as well as burying his ego with that comment, he psychologically struck a blow to those he anticipates being his principal title rivals this year, by effectively saying, ‘Hey, that’s how good our car was. You guys should be worried.’ One suspects they were already, though.

Given how knife-edge the track/tyre combo was in practice and qualifying, Herta’s ability to earn pole by going a quarter of  a second faster than the opposition – on a track where the pole time was only a shade over a minute – was truly remarkable.

The race win also proved that Herta is also rapidly gaining the near-vital ability to save fuel and be quick, so often the difference-maker between success and failure in IndyCar, and something that pre-season he suggested he had still not properly honed. We shouldn’t be surprised.

"I’m really happy to see the personal growth for me. That's kind of what I look for every year, obviously – personal gains, getting better as a driver" Colton Herta

In 2019, after taking pole at Portland, he burned off his tyres and used up too much fuel trying to stay ahead of Dixon and Power. A few weeks later at Laguna Seca, a venue where the coarse track surface causes the tyres to degrade rapidly, he had everything in hand and won. He’s a sensationally fast learner because he works so hard on self-improvement.

Regarding his burgeoning fuel-save ability, he remarked: "Everybody came together and knew that they had to work on that with me, and we went through a lot of different data sets and stuff like that to better myself for this event, and I’m really happy to see the personal growth for me. That's kind of what I look for every year, obviously – personal gains, getting better as a driver, and so it's a huge accomplishment for me when you can look back at this race and know that I did exactly what I wanted to do."

Of course, in the post-race many media members wanted to talk about Herta's relationship with his father Bryan, who this year became his strategist,  with this fourth IndyCar victory putting son level with father in the all-time list. While there were plenty of fraught times when Michael Andretti called races for his son Marco, and suspicions linger that Bobby Rahal didn’t get the best out of his son Graham when they worked directly together, the Herta father-and-son interchanges so far seem calm.

"I think people thought it wasn't going to work, a lot of people had their doubts," nodded Herta Jr. "I think we're both pretty level-headed and we don't get all the way up here or down here. I think it works really well.

"Obviously a lot of people know how good he is at strategy, and that was the main reason why I wanted him on there. If he wasn't going to be a good strategist, I probably wouldn't have asked him to be on the car. But so far, no complications, and obviously we've been doing a good job so far pace-wise. And obviously the strategy today was flawless, all the pitstops were amazing. It seems to be smooth sailing."

Race winner Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport Honda celebrating his victory

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

And Herta wasn’t going to rise to the bait when someone asked him if he’d be pointing out that he’d already matched his father’s victory tally.

"I think he knows. You know, the most important thing for me was being able to share [this win] with him, which was incredible. Obviously he's done so much for my career, more than anybody has. Him and my mum have always been there for me.

"Early on, you don't start getting paid as a race car driver, and they financially backed me for a lot of my racing career. I'm really thankful to them and all the support that they've given me and all the support he's given me and advice. I love both of them so much, and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here, so I can't rub in [matching his victory tally] that much."

Indeed, Herta has a great deal of respect for his father, who "always tried to be quite hands off and let me learn on my own, which I liked".

"I think it's worked really well," he continued. "He's put me in the best situation that I could be growing up, the different teams that I ran for – very professional and very tough on me at times, so it kind of built me up and made me into what I am as a driver and how I can understand the car so well and look at the data and understand completely what I need to do and then transfer that on to the track."

Herta also acknowledged the role Carlin played in his development, underlining that he hasn’t forgotten his roots, either at home or the track. Meet his parents – modesty personified – and Herta's words come as no surprise.

After the race, I tried to get some time with Bryan, but dad didn’t want to steal even a sliver of the spotlight from his son. One comment stood out though: "I’m amazed as a father and as a fan by the driver and young man he is becoming."

Doubtless many others are deeply impressed with Herta too. But we can no longer count ourselves among the ‘amazed’ because everything we’ve seen so far has ensured our expectations for him are sky-high...

Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport Honda celebrates winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Photo by: Barry Cantrell / Motorsport Images