Herta withdraws from both Madring F2 races after qualifying crash leaves him unwell

Colton Herta’s troubled Formula 2 season reached a new low at the Madring round in Madrid, where the Hitech driver withdrew from both races after a heavy qualifying crash left him reportedly feeling unwell.

Herta lost the rear of his car at Turn 19 during Friday qualifying, striking both barriers and causing significant damage to the front, rear, and right-hand side of his car. He subsequently sat out Saturday’s sprint race and Sunday’s feature race, with no indication given as to whether the absence would extend beyond this weekend.

The setback is the latest in a difficult campaign for the 24-year-old, who made the move to F2 as part of a broader push to secure an F1 seat through a test and development role with Cadillac. He has qualified inside the top ten just once across 11 rounds and has accumulated 26 points in total — 20 of which came in the opening five rounds of the season.

Herta’s recent form has been particularly concerning. He crashed twice at Monza, and the Madrid qualifying incident means he has been involved in three accidents across his last six F2 sessions. The trajectory has moved sharply in the wrong direction at a stage of the season when he needs results to justify his F1 ambitions.

The weekend offered a sharp contrast within the Hitech garage. Team-mate Ritomo Miyata claimed his maiden F2 victory on Saturday at the 76th time of asking, while fellow American Ugo Ugochukwu sealed the 2026 F3 championship title on Sunday.