Autobayng News Team
The FIA will award more superlicence points to IndyCar drivers next year following claims it under-valued America’s top single-seater series.
Last year’s IndyCar championship runner-up Colton Herta has moved to Formula 2 for next season in order to increase his chance of scoring the superlicence points he needs to qualify for a superlicence.
Drivers must earn at least 40 superlicence points over a three-year period to be permitted to race in F1. In 2025 the FIA awarded 201 points to the top 10 finishers in the F2 championship but just 124 to the same 10 in IndyCar.
Even Formula 3 drivers were awarded more points than those in IndyCar, with 128 available over the top 10 places.
That will change next year as the FIA increases the points allocations for most of the top finishes in the IndyCar season. The total points available will rise to 158, still considerably less than F2 offers.
Mick Schumacher will become the latest in a series of Formula 1 drivers to move into IndyCar next year. He will join fellow ex-F1 racers Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, both of which have won the series’ blue riband event, the Indianapolis 500.
The FIA introduced its superlicence points system in 2015 following criticism of Red Bull’s decision to place Max Verstappen, who was 17 at the time, in its junior Formula 1 team, then known as Toro Rosso.
Revised IndyCar superlicence points
| Championship position | Formula 2 | Formula 3 | IndyCar (2025) | IndyCar (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 40 | 30 | 40 | 40 |
| 2nd | 40 | 25 | 30 | 30 |
| 3rd | 40 | 20 | 20 | 25 |
| 4th | 30 | 15 | 10 | 20 |
| 5th | 20 | 12 | 8 | 15 |
| 6th | 10 | 9 | 6 | 10 |
| 7th | 8 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| 8th | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| 9th | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 10th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
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