Colton Herta will not take part in the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race in Madrid on Sunday after continuing to feel unwell, cutting him out of the race just as the grid was being set for the final event of the weekend.
The withdrawal matters now because the Madrid round is at the center of the FIA Formula 2 weekend, and Herta had been due to be part of it. Hitech confirmed the decision in a short statement, saying: “Colton will not be racing today after continuing to feel unwell.” He also did not compete in yesterday’s Sprint Race, which left his absence from the Feature Race as the next step in a weekend that has already moved on without him.
For readers following the Madring weekend, the immediate effect is on the starting order. Drivers who were set to line up behind Car 4 on the Feature Race grid will move up one position each. That is the practical consequence of a single withdrawal: one empty place does not stay empty, and everyone behind it shifts forward.
Herta’s condition was not explained beyond feeling unwell, and that is the part the team did not fill in. The omission leaves the result clear but the cause unanswered. He was set to race, then missed the Sprint Race yesterday, and now will not race on Sunday either. In a weekend built around one driver arriving to start and another fighting for position, the story has become about who is no longer there.
That leaves Madrid with a cleaner grid and one unresolved point: whether Herta is available for any later racing remains unknown. For now, the only certainty is that the Feature Race in Madrid will start without him, and the drivers behind Car 4 will move up before the lights go out.
