“It’s not easy” Reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen on NASCAR as he acknowledges the time needed to get good at it
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Max Verstappen on the podium after winning the Miami GP
NASCAR and Formula 1 are among the most widely respected and acknowledged Motorsports Racing Championship in the world. Though the premier racing events host one among the finest racers in the world the drivers to have raced in both the series are just a handful, with just one among them having success at both the events.
The open-wheel and stock car racing differences, the race culture differences, along with the track and technology differences do make it hard for the drivers to make the shift from NASCAR to F1 and vice-versa. Former F1 world champion with Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen will become the recent F1 racer in NASCAR as he is set to make his NASCAR debut in August with Trackhouse Racing he will be hoping to replicate his F1 success with the team as the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya, the only racer to have won both NASCAR and F1 races.
The degree of difficulty of NASCAR vs F1 is a never-ending debate in the motorsport world but now the reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen, who drives for Red Bull, has come forth to express his opinion on the NASCAR discipline. He acknowledged that it’s a time-consuming process for drivers to make the shift from F1 to NASCAR or the other way around as the difference between both the events makes it hard to get good at it.
“It is a completely different discipline. For [Formula One drivers] to get good at it, it will also take quite a bit of time. You know, it’s not easy. It’s the other way around as well for them. To get good in an F1 car or whatever, it also takes time,” Max Verstappen said.
Daniel Ricciardo an Ex-Teammate of Max Verstappen had earlier revealed his plans to race in NASCAR
Daniel Ricciardo who drives for McLaren in F1 and a former teammate of Max Verstappen in his Red Bull days had previously come forth expressing his ambition to drive-in NASCAR. Daniel Ricciardo acknowledged that he likes to get the oval driving experience in NASCAR but added that since he is less experienced in such tracks, he likes to start his NASCAR journey in road courses and then grow from it.
“I’d like to drive an oval just to kind of see what it’s like, but I probably wouldn’t want to compete because I just, I don’t think I’ll be competitive and wouldn’t probably do it justice. A road course or something would be fun, but I’ll walk before I can run,” Daniel Ricciardo said.
He went on to say that both NASCAR and F1 are different disciplines that force him to be part of test runs to see how good he is with NASCAR and pointed out that if he is able to prove his worth in the test runs, he might try to make it to NASCAR. Daniel Ricciardo acknowledged that he won’t be jumping to conclusions on his NASCAR entry as it is kind of a different beast.
“It’s such a different discipline that I’ll want to do some testing and kind of see where I’m at. And let’s say if that all went well and I had good confidence in the car, then, you know, I might put my hand up, but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. It’s a very different beast,” Daniel Ricciardo added.
The McLaren driver went on to say that he would like to experience at least an on-off race with drivers he grows up watching on the track will be a great feeling for him. ”I think to go into NASCAR, even if it was just a one-off race and to, let’s say, to rub shoulders with so many guys that I’ve watched since I was a kid, I think that would also be a, a similar feeling,” says Daniel Ricciardo.
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Justin P Joy
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