IndyCar drop Colton Herta bombshell as multiple penalties announced

Colton Herta’s No. 26 Andretti Global team has been slammed with a penalty, after they failed a post-race technical inspection at The Thermal Club.

IndyCar found that the car’s anti-intrusion plates were incorrectly attached, leading to a potential safety issue with Herta’s car.

The anti-intrusion plates were made mandatory in 2015 to prevent broken pieces of the suspension entering the cockpit after a crash.

As a result, Andretti have received a $25,000 fine and have had 10 points removed from the entrants' championship, which sees the team drop from eighth to 10th in the standings.

Will Herta be impacted by Andretti punishment?

The details of the technical infringement were released by IndyCar where they stated: “During post-race technical inspection Sunday, IndyCar discovered the team incorrectly attached the anti-intrusion plates on the aft leg of the front lower wishbones by using only one plate per side of the chassis instead of the two per side (a total of four), which were mandated in a Dallara bulletin released Feb. 14, 2025.”

However, as the issue was not a driver error and Herta did not gain any advantage from the infringement, the American driver was not penalised directly with the team instead held responsible.

Therefore, Herta’s P4 finish remains intact and so do the 32 points he earned at the weekend, meaning he sits eighth in the current drivers’ standings.

“We have received the penalty notice for Car 26 at Thermal and have discussed the findings with IndyCar,” Andretti’s statement said regarding the penalty.

“While we disagree with the assessment, we will accept the penalty and move forward.”

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