The case of Herta should be called the curious case.
The final race of the year will take place on the egg-shaped World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis this weekend. The real-time storyline on Saturday night will be the seven drivers separated by only 59 points as the championship trophy comes into view, especially the battle between the 40-something set, as leader Will Power fights to hold off summer rejuvenated Scott Dixon.
The eyes of the Formula One world will be on the kid who is nearly half their age and sitting an insurmountable 135 points in arrears, ranked 10th after some midsummer struggles and more than likely to be eliminated from the title fight this weekend.
That doesn't matter It wasn't to the F1 crowd. It wasn't to the American F1 audience. Not to the important group of American corporations that want to have their logos on an F1 machine.
Herta is the driver of the above. The person was the chosen one. Balance will be brought to the forces of open-wheel racing by a man.
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"My goal as a kid was to be where I am right now, in IndyCar, so I also try hard to stay in the moment, where I am," the 22-year-old explained. Who wouldn't be flattered?
Three years ago, at the age of 18, he became the youngest driver to win an open wheel race. He's won six more races on tracks with a lot of Formula One experience, from the Circuit of the Americas in Austin to Long Beach.
The man is young. He is hilarious. Bryan Herta was a member of the 1990s Champ Car "Rat Pack" and Tony Kanaan was his teammate. He is a drummer in a band. He's got great hair.
"There are guys who create buzz for the wrong reasons, and then there are the guys who create it for the right reasons, and that's why she is one of the right ones," Alexander said of Herta in May. This isn't something that he has been promoted to. He has avoided it. That talk is a good indicator of how good he is.
Last month, when Herta drove a McLaren in Portugal, so many people were interested in the test session. It was the culmination of buzz that had been building since he signed a development deal with the team in March, the most-talked-about driver among McLaren boss Zak Brown's endless 2022.
It's also why, as Herta strolled the paddock at May's Miami Grand Prix, he created as much buzz as most of the drivers actually competing in the event. Mario said he wanted so much to see what his son could do in college.
The kid whose family moved to Pennsylvania when he was a teenager returned to Europe to race as an adult and is the only American who has won an F1 world championship. Forty four years ago, he was the last American driver to win an F1 title. It was a disaster for Michael when he took to the series in 1993. After only one season, seven points scored and a feud with McLaren teammate Ayrton Senna, Marco Andretti returned to the open wheel series. Americans are not able to cut it over here.
Since 2007, no American-born racer has raced full time in F1 Since Herta was a teammate to current McLaren F1 in the new F4 series, no one has been in an F1 car.
Herta was nicknamed "Hooligan Herta" because he was so aggressive in the corners. That was seen as a dig at Herta's abilities by the Europeans. He knew it was a funny story from a long time ago.
His role in this summer's off-the-charts F1 silly season drama is inescapable. It doesn't take a lot of research to find stories pointing to Herta as the person who might push Daniel Ricciardo out of his McLaren ride to be with his friend.
On Thursday, an autosport column titled "The inconvenient truth about F1's 'American driver' dream' sent the motorsports social media world into a frenzied fistfight" It was Herta's time, according to some. He had to get in line behind another American. He has worked his way up the European Formula Series ladder. Some pointed out Herta's disappointing statistics that would make it hard for him to get an F1 Super Licence. The links to the recordings of radio chatter between the father and son were posted by others.
The feuding family has always been a source of entertainment. Last week, Newgarden and McLaughlin welcomed Herta to their popular "Bus Bros" show and immediately began talking about his father as "adorable" and proof of their relationship.
Herta told the Bros that they can talk to each other on the radio. If he was a bad strategist, that wouldn't happen. He's a great strategist.
He handles it the same way. He needs to. Even though he doesn't have a gig yet,troversies are part of the job.
Herta said after the Portugal test that it was a compliment to have her name in the middle of things. I'm always focused on what's next, but I'm also trying to appreciate where I am right now. If F1 doesn't happen or takes a long time to happen, I don't want that to keep me from enjoying the opportunities I have now. There are a lot of things that could happen in my life and career right now. It is in the open road.
The Chosen One is being appreciated by the community that is close to him. Herta was asked by the Bus Bros if he was one of the 180 drivers under contract with Brown's McLaren. Herta was cut off by McLaughlin as he answered.
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