Two-time Indycar champion and double Indianapolis 500 winner Unser worked with Herta in his role as a driver advisor to Harding Steinbrenner Racing when fellow second-generation racer Herta made his full IndyCar debut in 2019.
The 21-year-old Andretti Autosport driver, who won three races last year on his way to finishing fifth in the points, was linked with a switch to F1 when his team boss Michael Andretti attempted to take over the Alfa Romeo team last year.
Although this was unsuccessful, Andretti has since been working on plans for a start-up team from 2024, and Herta has publicly stated that he would “be lying if I said I didn’t want to do Formula 1”.
Speaking to Autosport for a podcast reviewing his recently-released book, A Checkered Past, Unser praised Herta as the current driver whose skillset most reminded him of himself, and remarked that “all [Herta] has to do is keep doing what he’s doing” to one day become a title-winner.
Unser said: “He definitely can be an IndyCar champion, without a doubt.
“All he has to do is keep doing what he’s doing, he doesn’t have to change a thing and he’s going to be an IndyCar champion.
“He’s [also] young enough, he can go into F1 and I think he’d be competitive straight out of the box.
“The first time I ever met Colton was the 25 Hours of Thunderhill out in California. It started to rain, it was about 3am. I’m out there running and being super careful, then all of a sudden this car catches me, blows by me and just walks away from me, gone.
“I called in on the radio, I said, ‘Who is that?’ And they said, ‘It’s Colton Herta’. ‘Damn, he’s fast!’ So that just proved right then, this kid is incredible.”
When asked which of the modern IndyCar drivers most reminds him of himself, Unser affirmed it was Herta, whose father Bryan was a contemporary of Unser during the latter stages of his career.
Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
“The one who most reminds me of myself, and Michael by the way because Michael was my direct contemporary, it is Colton,” he said.
“Colton has a famous father, he’s got that legacy that he’s got to live up to, in all areas.
“Colton is a way better qualifier than I ever was, he goes out and he gets it done and he gets it done during the races too.
“He makes very few mistakes which puts you in victory lane at the end of the day.”
Herta finished fourth in last weekend’s IndyCar season-opener at St. Petersburg, won by 2021 rookie of the year Scott McLaughlin for Team Penske, ahead of defending champion Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing).
Unser remarked that the championship is currently seeing a generational shift which he thinks will help bring back the championship’s glory days.
Asked what is exciting him about modern IndyCar, Unser said: “The teams are getting more and more competitive with each other and it’s tough to go out there and win the races, like it used to be. I’m excited about it.
“You’ve got a whole new set of young, talented drivers that are the future of racing, so right now I’m seeing the changing of the guard, a lot like the mid-to-late ’80s is when Michael [Andretti] and myself really started the change of the guard back then with our generation.
“I see that occurring right now with Pato O’Ward [2021 runner-up with Arrow-McLaren SP], Colton Herta, those are your two bright stars that are going to bring this thing back to its most successful days.”