Former Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton made it clear that his test of a NASCAR Sprint Cup race car next summer is not an indication that he is about to switch series.
Sometime next summer, Lewis Hamilton will sample Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet Impala while “Smoke” will try to fit in and drive Hamilton’s 2008 McLaren-Mercedes on Watkins Glen’s picturesque road course.
This will bring memories of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon who did something similar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2003, when Montoya was still competing in Formula 1.
Montoya drove Jeff Gordon’s NASCAR racer while Gordon took the wheel of the BMW-powered Williams.
The Hamilton-Stewart confrontation was arranged by Mobil 1, which sponsors both drivers. Both race teams will accompany the drivers to Watkins Glen and prepare the cars.
Interestingly, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was supposed to test a Toyota F1 car at Fuji on November 23, 2008. Strangely enough, NASCAR asked him to attend the year-end banquet of NASCAR instead of going to Japan. So the test unfortunately never materialised.
The 26-year-old Hamilton made clear however that he has little serious interest in NASCAR, the most popular form of motor racing in the United States.
Talking to journalists in southern Great Britain, Hamilton said, “I’m not massively interested in it, to be honest”.
“I saw the steering wheel and it didn’t look spectacular,” he said of Stewart’s NASCAR machine.
“It’s not very hi-tech, I would say. I’ve got a huge amount of respect still for the drivers though.”
Sometime next summer, Lewis Hamilton will sample Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet Impala while “Smoke” will try to fit in and drive Hamilton’s 2008 McLaren-Mercedes on Watkins Glen’s picturesque road course.
This will bring memories of Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon who did something similar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2003, when Montoya was still competing in Formula 1.
Montoya drove Jeff Gordon’s NASCAR racer while Gordon took the wheel of the BMW-powered Williams.
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| Jeff Gordon driving the Williams F1 car and Juan Pablo Montoya in Jeff Gordon's Chevrolet in 2003. (Photo: nascar.com) |
The Hamilton-Stewart confrontation was arranged by Mobil 1, which sponsors both drivers. Both race teams will accompany the drivers to Watkins Glen and prepare the cars.
Interestingly, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was supposed to test a Toyota F1 car at Fuji on November 23, 2008. Strangely enough, NASCAR asked him to attend the year-end banquet of NASCAR instead of going to Japan. So the test unfortunately never materialised.
The 26-year-old Hamilton made clear however that he has little serious interest in NASCAR, the most popular form of motor racing in the United States.
Talking to journalists in southern Great Britain, Hamilton said, “I’m not massively interested in it, to be honest”.
“I saw the steering wheel and it didn’t look spectacular,” he said of Stewart’s NASCAR machine.
“It’s not very hi-tech, I would say. I’ve got a huge amount of respect still for the drivers though.”