Tony Stewart will drive a Formula 1 car later this year – and Lewis Hamilton will try his hand at NASCAR. Stewart Haas Racing has confirmed the idea, which will be organised by Mobil, which sponsors both teams.
The test is expected to take place at Watkins Glen International sometime during the summer. The cars involved will not be show cars. They will be legitimate race-prepared machines. Hamilton will man Stewart’s road course Chevy, and Stewart will drive Hamilton’s 2010-model F1 McLaren.
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Is this a new wide body version of the Macca?
A kosher, current F1 car lapping the Glen? Where do I get tickets? Hooray! Hope Lewis gets the chance to set Tony a sighting lap…
Both of them will take some time getting used to the car, they could hardly be more different.
too bad Lewis is not getting an attempt at an oval track.
Sounds like it will be fun to see. It will make one wonder as to how good Tony Stewart might have been if he had been able to stick his toe into the F1 arena years ago. People seem to have forgotten his very successful IndyCar experience.
But one wonders whether tony who appeared to widen the way JPM did will have troubles fitting into the McLaren.
It’s also going to be nice to see an F1 car back at the glen, and a bit more fun than what had been done with Jeff Gordon at Indy.
Great entertainment! Sadly, it won’t be available to all to watch I suspect. Lewis will blow them away and Tony Stewart will surprise. Both naturals though, although F1 to cars is one thing but, cars to F1 is entirely another.
I’d love to see this. Absolutely brilliant idea.
The real test will be trying to fit Stewart into an F1 car! Have you seen the guy? He’s huge.
Not to sound rude, but Tony Stewart isn’t a small guy. Will he fit in the car?
Pleased. The last time they did this, with Montana and I-forget-the-NASCAR-guys-name, it was an entertaining piece of television. Are they going to have to make a Mansell seat for Tony Stewart?
Wow Tony is rather….portly shall we say…I would doubt in his current state he’d fit in a contemporary McLaren.
Might need to dust off an MP4/10 to handle Stewart’s…how to word this politely…frame? I’m sure Ron’s got a couple laying around Woking somewhere.
It’s a great chance for Hamilton to build on his profile state side. While I jest about Tony Stewart, in my eyes he was a talent missed by the open wheeled fraternity and is not averse to having a punt in other cars. From memory he’s been to Australia on occasion to drive sprint cars.
Joe – Are you doing an Aside With…in Melbourne this year?
Wow, can Stewart even fit in an F1 car…? If he does I think he’ll put on a great show and his comments should be most interesting.
I assume McLaren will use the same technical team that tried to fit Nige in the car all those years ago.
if he finds a cockpit he can fit in.
How about Tony going the full course w/out the chicane so that we can get an idea what the speed would be compared to the last GP in 1980?
Prelude to a Glen Return?
Twice in a year – through Vodafone links, Craig Lowndes will be running a McLaren at Bathurst in a few weeks – swapping with Button. No comparisons to previous F1 cars there, though.
It will be interesting to see what Tony thinks of the F1 car – he likes to drive anything he can. I’ve watched him come out to Australia to race Sprint Cars for the last couple of years and more than anything, he just appears to enjoy the driving (though wants to win, obviously).
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Hopefully McLaren or Mobile make a ‘proper’ little documentary of the event, it would make for great viewing. Maybe if we all start emailing McLaren’s press people about it now we’ll all be able to see it!
I love these cross-over events (ie. Button also driving an Aussie V8 supercar around Bathurst in the near future).
@elephino – that’s awesome, I’d not heard about that. I hope I can find it on the web somewhere. Is it being broadcast on Aussie TV? I’ve always thought Bathurst would make for a fantastic GP, if a little dangerous!
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I’m assuming it’ll be on August 14th (the Nasar Sprint Cup date there). Which would also work with the F1 schedule. I Hope they also let Lewis have a run in the F1 car. Anyone in NYC want to make the trip up?
Actually, Tony has trimmed up quite a bit this year. Maybe he’s been prepping.
Great idea! Love it from every angle! Reminds me of a few years back of the Williams/NASCAR swap at Indy! Although I read that it is being sponsored by mutual sponsor Mobil 1, I can’t help but imagine it’s a by-product of McLaren’s ECU involvement for NASCAR. Great promo for all however!
Gareth, no plans for tv other than news style broadcasting. But I’m planning on being there.
Wow – hope Tony doesn’t lose control in the last corner, pretty much a solid wall there.
Sadly Watkins Glen hasn’t been up to F1 standards for a very long time.
Anyone have an idea where I can find the Williams/Nascar stuff online?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! This made my day. Thank you.
Tony dropped over 25 pounds in the offseason (he finally got a girlfriend, so i don’t think it’s a coincidence), and even looked thin in the face at Daytona. He’s not a tall guy or anything, so if he can keep the weight off, he might be able to fit in the McLaren. I certainly hope so, because seeing my favorite NASCAR driver in an F1 car would be an absolute dream. I hope this goes as well as last time, when Gordon and Montoya swapped at Indy. That was great tv, and this should be too (assuming Speed channel covers it like they did the Gordon/Montoya swap).
Well y’all, nobody sayin nothin about can “Lil Ol Lewis” cope with two ton of American metal. Only can “Big Tony” (less 25 pounds, thank ye Kyle W) get in a McLaren?
Any of ye good people know if these here NASCARs fitted with power steering or servo brakes?
“The last time they did this, with Montoya and I-forget-the-NASCAR-guys-name, it was an entertaining piece of television.”
Jeff Gordon.
“Well y’all, nobody sayin nothin about can “Lil Ol Lewis” cope with two ton of American metal. Only can “Big Tony” (less 25 pounds, thank ye Kyle W) get in a McLaren?
Any of ye good people know if these here NASCARs fitted with power steering or servo brakes?”
I think that was the dumbest attempt at a Southern accent I’ve ever seen.
They have power steering, drum brakes, and the cars are 3500 lb,
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