Tony Kanaan praises FIA for revising IndyCar superlicense points

The FIA’s updated changes of the superlicense points allocation to the IndyCar Series championship ahead of the 2026 season has been welcomed by several in the paddock, including Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council concluded its final meeting for 2025 on Wednesday, making several changes across several series that also impacted North America’s premier open-wheel championship. 

Previously, the top 10 in the IndyCar championship were awarded superlicense points from first to 10th as follows: 40-30-20-10-8-6-4-3-2-1. However, the updated changes will now see first to 10th allocated 40-30-25-20-15-10-8-6-3-1. 

This brings IndyCar’s status closer to Formula 1 as a ‘feeder series’ in terms of hitting the required 40 superlicense points over a three-year span, remaining behind Formula 2 (40-40-40-30-20-10-8-6-4-3) and ahead of Formula 3 (30-25-20-15-12-9-7-5-3-2). 

Kanaan reacts to FIA superlicense change

Tony Kanaan

Photo by: Gregg Feistman / Motorsport Images

“No one doubts that IndyCar is one of the most competitive racing series in the world, and I’m glad the FIA is acknowledging that by increasing the points to be more comparable to F2,” Kanaan said, via a statement sent to Motorsport.com. 

“It’s good news for IndyCar and good for the drivers in the series if they do want to race in F1. An IndyCar driver shouldn’t need to go to a feeder series to prove they’ve got what it takes to compete in any other series.” 

Although Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward also serves as McLaren F1’s reserve and test driver (and recently driven in FP1 outings in Mexico and Abu Dhabi this year), Kanaan is likely referencing Colton Herta. 

Herta has been among the shortlist of drivers highly touted in the IndyCar paddock since coming onto the scene at the end of 2018, and becoming the youngest race winner in 2019 (at 18 years, 11 months and 25 days old). However, his eligibility for a superlicense has been difficult. A potential F1 debut for AlphaTauri in 2023 was halted due to having 32 superlicense points despite finishing seventh, third and fifth in the title race from 2019-21. 

The 25-year-old Herta went into the 2025 season with 31 superlicense points and, under the FIA’s previous criteria, needed to finish fourth in the championship or fifth with an FP1 appearance. 

Despite Herta falling short of that goal and ending up seventh in the title race, he was still brought into Cadillac’s F1 team, albeit a test driver. He also left IndyCar at the end of the year to run F2 with Hitech in pursuit of securing enough superlicense points for a shot at an F1 seat in 2027. He needs to either finish eighth, but could also secure it with 10th in combination with multiple free practice appearances.

Only Alex Palou (120 points), Scott Dixon (56 points), O’Ward (48 points) and Scott McLaughlin (41 points) are eligible based on results from the past three seasons. The updated changes will only impact points scored from 2026 onwards.