LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Top IndyCar drivers will find the road to Formula One a little easier after the FIA increased the number of superlicence points available to those competing in the U.S.-based open-wheel series.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) agreed at a meeting on Wednesday to reward better those finishing between third and ninth in IndyCar.
To qualify for a superlicence drivers must acquire 40 ranking points over a three-year period.
Only the IndyCar champion receives that many in one go, with 30 for the championship runner-up.
The FIA’s revised rules allocate more points for those finishing between third and ninth from 2026 “to reflect the growing significance of the category”.
Formula One does not currently have a U.S. driver although the sport is booming in the United States with three races and Cadillac entering next season as an 11th and American team on the starting grid.
Nine-times IndyCar race winner Colton Herta will compete in next year’s Formula Two championship while serving as a test driver for Cadillac.
Herta has failed to secure enough points on his superlicence based on his IndyCar form over recent seasons.
IndyCar fans have long felt the FIA has undervalued the talents of IndyCar drivers in comparison to junior series like Formula Two.
Under the change, Herta would be closer to meeting the threshold for a superlicence.
“It’s good news for IndyCar and good for the drivers in the series if they do want to race in F1,” Arrow McLaren principal Tony Kanaan told .
“An IndyCar driver shouldn’t need to go to a feeder series to prove they’ve got what it takes to compete in any other series.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
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