NASCAR star eyes Abu Dhabi F1 test with McLaren

Former NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson says he is open to the idea of taking part on a post-season F1 test with McLaren at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit after the end of the current season.

Larson recently took part in the Indianapolis 500 in May, and caught the headlines this year when he claimed that he could beat F1 champion Max Verstappen in the right conditions.

That didn't go down well with a lot of international fans, but McLaren CEO Zak Brown would like to give the 32-year-old American a formal test in Abu Dhabi after the en dof the current season.

"We've been chatting about it," he told Kevin Harvick's 'Happy Hour' podcast on Fox Sports last week. "Kyle, as you can imagine, definitely wants to do it in-between our schedule.

"That goes from February to December, and NASCAR's schedule, which is February to November. Finding that window, we did that with Jimmie Johnson and Fernando [Alonso] in Bahrain with Hendrick Motorsports.

• Read also: NASCAR’s Larson says I’m a better ‘all-around driver’ than Verstappen!

"That must have been about four, five years ago," Brown recalled. "That was a lot of fun. I'd love to see Kyle in an F1 car. It is something that we've discussed and something I think will happen down the road."

No driver has successfully moved from NASCAR to F1, and only Juan Pablo Montoya has gone directly in the opposite direction. However he doesn't have the championship series points to make him eligible to join the F1 grid.

Since 2021 Larson has accumulated 29 points from his first, seventh and second place finishes in the Cup championship, but the Charlotte road course is not FIA homologated so the NASCAR Cup does not count towards superlicence points.

Larson could still take part in a test session to boost his eligibility, and has already come close to seizing such an opportunity last year.

"I would love to do it, and it sounds like hopefully, I'll get to it down the road," he told the 'Happy Hour' podcast. "I think it was an option this year, I just had so much going on.

"It's like something that I need to plan probably a year in advance or more," he said. "I would like to, but honestly I would rather do it on one of those open test-style deals like after Abu Dhabi when other drivers are on the track too.

"It would be fun to do that with Oscar [Piastri] or Lando [Norris] or whoever, but I would love to strap in with 19 other cars out there and see where you're at on the speed charts.

"Obviously I don't think that I would be the best, but I would hope to not be last," he added. "I think that would show how good American oval racers are, and unique, or if I was really bad, then it would just show how bad we are."

Having enjoyed his time in this year's Indy 500, Larson is due to head back there next May for a second bite at what's dubbed the world's greatest racing spectacle.

Meanwhile Brown says there may be some flow in the other direction with interest from Piastri Piastri to race in a papaya-coloured NASCAR around Daytona International Raceway at some point in the future.

"Oscar knocked on my door a little bit about his excitement around NASCAR," Brown disclosed. "So I think if we were to do something with Kyle in one of our Formula 1 drivers, it would probably most likely be Oscar."

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